Was it worth going to University?

Back in the day, university was certainly good for me. Most of my adult life has involved universities. Over the years, I turned my special interests into four degrees, a postgrad fellowship, several books, and a freelance career with mostly academic clients. But I agree with Marnee101 that the value of university education had declined (largely, I think, because the entire sector is now dominated by the need to balance the books).

These days degrees have lost their true values, Universities are interested in gaining students for fees and the value and quality of education has dropped. After College there are so many other avenues that are far more profitable, such as business, apprenticeships. I’m in the legal industry and it is far too saturated.

I was thinking this exact same thing today. It didn’t help me in the ways I expected like getting a job, in fact a masters degree did the opposite after I was 28. It helped that I developed my own interests by pursuing some of my early life goals, even if they turned out to be simplistic or naive in some ways. I met some nice people- I’d say more on the higher education course as there were few who were not genuinely passionate. Lots of things happen later after these things subside. Like the realities of life vs your dreams of a perfect life. Today I framed my graduation certificate 16 years after I received it. It to me that long to feel any sense of pride in the achievement. 

Thank you for taking the trouble to research these courses and I'll take a look at all of them. As I'm retired my time is my own but I am watching the pennies [who isn't!]. 

I haven’t looked recently but the OU website used to have a section with old course books for sale. They mightn’t even use books nowadays and they don’t do complete undergraduate Archaeology courses. I don’t know of gardening courses.  If you would be interested in a short basic course, these might be of interest. In fact, there are loads of other free university short courses when I searched, but I think you might be looking for a complete undergraduate degree course, followed perhaps by a Masters! 

https://lifelong-learning.ox.ac.uk/courses/archaeology-in-practice-online?code=O25P644AHV

https://www.futurelearn.com/subjects/history-courses/archaeology#:~:text=Topics%20related%20to%20Archaeology

https://www.york.ac.uk/study/moocs/exploring-stone-age/

The Oxford University course is expensive, but there is a good grant scheme for certain groups of people that might cover all or some of the fees. Otherwise there is very little online that would give a grounding in the basics of archaeology and the techniques used. There are lots of specialisms within archaeology. Nowadays it is so much more than destructive digging. 

I'm in Scotland and my mh nursing degree was free at point of use, and had a generous bursary. I love helping patients but the job has had a deleterious impact on my own mh at times..

ArchaeC said:

I’m happiest when I’m studying for the sake of studying

I guess many of us are like this. I wish they'd publish the whole course content [perhaps they do??] so you can study from an informed point of view. I would love to study archaeology and the art of gardening this way.

I went to uni when it was £3k. Similar that it was mostly getting me interviews. I learned some things, but a lot was covering what I had already learned when pursuing the subject as a hobby.

The main value I got from uni was everything else. Met people i'm still friends with now. Some despite living over an hour away I know from experience are people I can rely on in a crisis. We're having a holiday soon with some I've not kept as up to date with. It also pushed me outside of and expanded my comfort zone which I think was a good thing, and it was a good stepping stone to learning how to live on my own.

I think the value of uni goes beyond the course. But seeing things about plan 2 loans and how people aren't even paying off the interest, I'm not sure it's worth it anymore.

Depends on circumstances though, which uni, etc.

I studied part-time at three different unis, three times, for my undergraduate degree, PGCE and Masters. Although I wasn’t able to work full time all the rest of the time, university was definitely worthwhile. It broadened my outlook, improved self-esteem and helped me grow as a person. It helped me gain employment in the area I wanted to work in.

I’m happiest when I’m studying for the sake of studying and I would love to return to university for further study. 

I went to university at 22 after not getting the A level results that I wanted.  I couldn’t study what I wanted  at A levels and so had low enthusiasm for the courses. I could have done better if I put more effort and focus into it.  I was ok with Classics though and could have got a better mark for sure if I applied myself more. I was meant to study law and had a place to. I became unwell with an eating disorder and so the years after A levels I floated a bit and then did a HND course which I didn’t like. I ended up at 22 at university after some months in hospital doing a Major degree in religious studies and minor in media communications. I wanted to be a religious broadcaster. I did some work experience, but then relapsed again. My father encouraged me to do a MA and I did at 35 at MA in International Relations. I passed both courses. I took a few months extra on both and had issues with English but I had means to help me with this to.

I am glad that I studied what I did. I have created some blogs involving both of those subjects that I studied and I do voluntary work to, so it has worked out well for me . Learning is a good thing, although you have to pay for it today and it was free to do an undergraduate degree when I did mine.  It has helped me to present an argument much better to. I soon will be doing a shorter course in Christian studies which has allowed me not to do more studies because of my degree to qualify to support people in the community and I am looking into being a spiritual counsellor/pastoral support to in hospitals which uses my first degree. If I had my time again, probbably nothing would change.

Starting a blog on something like wordpress can be one way of using your studies or hobby.  You can open something like a sports forum to for free to get out knowledge on the subject.

I did a BA in English from 06-09. It didn't help me get a job but I did learn some useful life skills and it allowed me to move away from home and become more independent. I'm studying an Open Uni degree part time alongside work at the moment but am wavering in my dedication to it. I like having a project and feeling like I'm learning and 'achieving' but it's a lot of work for presumably little payback. 

I studied 4 years for an MSc in mental health practice. I had a two-decade career before being bullied out of my last post in the field, after whistle-blowing.-It was during this post I passed MSc. I enjoyed studying and wrote several books which received good professioinl reviews, so I would say the study was worth it, though the outcome was not conducive to a happy life. I wish I'd had even a little careers advice because I would have taken a different path - archaeology, or gardening most likely. Now retired, I can study and work in my own garden for pleasure just as I wish, so that has been a great solace. And, too boot, time has proven my research on the ineffectivness of NHS systems, to deal with bullying triggered by lack of resources and stress.

Yes definitely good for me   . I went to London’s UCL in the 70s, came out with a 2:1 B.Sc. Hons in my (then) special interest. I enjoyed my time there but didn’t make any lasting friends as I prioritised studying over drinking ale in the union bar and going to gigs, I was regarded as a swot. The degree as others have said opened doors which wouldn’t otherwise have been accessible, so I went into management training with a large metals conglomerate and did well. In those days there were no loans but just a grant which covered everything, but then only about 5% of young people went to uni so it was affordable to be given the grants by a combination of local and national government, now with over 50% going to uni this isnt possible. Im retired now btw.

I have a bachelor degree in logistics and work in a warehouse for the lowest salary. If I knew, that I need not necessarily a degree, but good social skills and flexibility instead to get a good job, I would probably choose something else. But it's done. It hit me, when I saw stats that around 20% of autistic people are in any form of employment.  And many work below their qualifications. It's much easier to an NT without degree to get a good job, than an autistic person with a degree. But at least I'm lucky enough to have a job and earn some money. I'm privileged to not be dependent on others. I acknowledge that. 

If you can do a degree level qualification while working or being sponsored, that is definitely the way to go. I believe that the armed forces and some large companies sponsor students on the proviso that the people they support work for them for a specified minimum number of years. I did two degrees while working at a university, was paid a salary all the time and had no fees. Writing up theses in the evening and at weekends while working full time was not easy, especially with two school-age kids, but the financial advantages outweighed that entirely.

Equivalent to a degree, but the course I did was all case studies, coursework, no exams and 10% of a uni degree 

Scuse me for replying on anothers response line (hehe autistic butting in anybody?)

Level 6 qualification is batchelor degree / degree apprenticeship level 

Hehe, a bit like levels of wizardry that I just looked up:

"Level 6 marks a point where wizards become significantly more versatile and reliable in their magical capabilities. "

Experience suggests that it's a point were one is still looked down upon by some more senior wizards who nonetheless sense the threat that one might be to them later on!

For me - who has been a few times, I would say on balance yes.

Study was tricky for me - undiagnosed AuDHD meant for interesting experiences.  Super successful in some units - barely scraping thro in others...

Timing a nightmare!

Naturally stuff that I could go monotropic in - fab.  Stuff that I could build understanding in from the bottom up - fab.  Stuff I was just expected to take for granted as the top down picture - nah...

getting told I had to read this whole load of books from cover to cover, that just wasn't the way I could solve the puzzle - still isn't

for me study was kindof both study and apprenticeship as I did eventually crack the code for reasonable success in healthcare - where clinical placements offered an opportunity to work out what he heck the academic stuff was meant to mean in practice.  So I came out prepared to work - hehe well sort of!  (still undiagnosed so most of my time running in survival mode from the complexities of the workplace mostly...)

Now, if they said to me "here's a library" off you go.  Here's a couple of loose pointers.  Spend as much time as you like here and let your learning guide you where to go next" well that might have been a different outcome.

Large language models are excellent now (Ok like everyone else I am probably short on the fact checking some times) for helping with learning.

I wonder what the current university experience is like given the huge changes that have happened there.

I remember having to read and cross check 30 odd papers for evidence research.

And combine that with critically review for meta-analysis.  Absolutely shed loads of work!!!

that's loads easier today...  and so analysis is easier to make I reckon

equally presentation - getting the right number of words , lining up the points to make in a way that meets audeince needs.

All told reckon that learning is about learning how to learn and about how to share it - ideally doing this all the way along.  Hmm... that's top down and bottom up at the same time.  How counter culture!

best wishes

I went to the local technical college rather than University, but it was HE, so still had to take out a loan.

I say no, it wasn't worth it. I had to swap my disability benefit claim for a £3000/year student grant, losing me £2000 per year in income. This is significant because I have not once worked in the field I studied (engineering).

I even wrote a letter to the principal of the college last year to express my regret. Of course it is far worse now. Benefits are worth far less. Student grants got replaced by loans. Cost of living went up, and tuition fees are far higher. My outstanding unpaid tuition fee loan is about £7000 now (for two years study).

Depends how you look it. I was similar to you. I turned a passionate hobby into a university degree with the intention of making it a career and then realised that making my hobby a job ruined my hobby so I had to think again. So work wise, no it wasn't worth it.

Was I ready to start work at that point in time? Definitely not. Did I have some great life experiences whilst there? Yes 100%. I was very fortunate to go to a small university where I could live on campus all 3 years and keep my world nice and small so it wasn't too stressful. One of the only people in my life I would truly define as a friend I met at university.

Was it all good? Of course not. Is anything always all good? I'd say no.

Are there any downsides? I have a student debt yes but in all honesty I don't earn enough to pay it back. I think I'm paying £1 a month. If I earn more money at some point that will increase but I'll be able to afford the increase so it's not an issue to me. I'm about 15 years in already so actually only have 10 more years and then it's written off.

I may not have used that degree so far and I may not have gone down that career path but I'm happy in the knowledge that I have it and that if I ever do feel I'm able to go down a higher career path, a degree counts for something, no matter what it's in and I may at some point have the option to do a masters or similar in something more in line with my career. I wouldn't have to start at the beginning of a degree late in life. 

So yes, I think it was worth it even if it didn't go totally to plan. If I had my time again I think I'd still go but I guess I'd pick a different degree.

I do wish the UK system was more like the American one for university. I would have really benefitted from minors and majors I think. It would have given me that bit more time to make decisions and not put everything on one subject. Seems better rounded to me and gives better flexibility career wise.