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When he first came to power, Tony Blair proudly announced that his party’s message was “Education, Education, Education�. A commendable enough focus and certainly not an area one would immediately link to frustration and increasing personal debt. But over the years, as greater numbers of institutions have acquired the status of a university, and student loans have become effortlessly available to everyone, schools have encouraged a lot more young people to go for degrees without really spelling out the cost.
There’s no doubt that we should have a more educated society, but is everyone actually getting the most appropriate advice? In reality; it isn’t a difficult sell to promote to a young adult to leave home and live with their pals, not worry about getting a job for three or four years and get discounted beer at the university bar. A bit of a basic interpretation perhaps – of course there’s a spot of lessons to attend, and a careful balance to make ends meet, then the rewards will be worth it in years to come. But is that true For a lot of families, the real cost of university education lasts for a long period after graduation, both in social and financial terms.
The student loan system (the best method of borrowing for university undergraduates), tuition fees, rent and the cost of life in general over three or four years can set you back well into five figures – with no guarantee of a job. It’s not a funny joke that intellectual adolescents too often become back-at-home twenty-somethings who haven’t even conquered their first job. Not only do parents find themselves still stumping up the cash, but time on their hands adult children back home again can definitely cramp their style!
Formal education can be a rewarding time for young people, and is the only route for many of our professions. But we should know that in some areas, there are other, sometimes better alternatives. As far as IT is concerned, employers are always searching for professionally qualified IT professionals. University graduates frequently have to top up their computer training skills to be industry ready and compete in the job market with Microsoft, CompTIA or Cisco professionals. The sad thing is they could have qualified two to three years earlier and not had a unmanageable debt if they’d studied with a global online computer training provider. Maybe drinking in the college bar isn’t such good value after all – it’s true the family bank account would be a lot less used up, and life would be lot more comfortable for all.
(C) Scott Edwards - www.learninglolly.com. Scott Edwards has been involved in the IT and Training Industry for 30 years.
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