Degree

[TeeDee]

A few questions regarding Degree based Higher Education which I think will make a UK based response more likely.

A ) What is your Degree in?

B ) Did you have to pay for your Degree? If so how much do you think your Degree and living costs accumulated to be at the end of the study - ie overall cost of Degree + Living Costs for 3 years.

C ) Do you actually use your Degree in a relevant way to your current Job ? ( If you have one )

D ) If you had your time again - would you have you advise yourself to do the same subject? or maybe forgo the Degree path entirely?


If we can keep the answers to a rough Format I would appreciate it - Thank You.

 

[Robson Valley]

a) BA Botany Major. MA Botany Research. PhD Plant Cell Structure.
b) BA: my summer employment was ample to budget for each of my undergraduate years with no supplemental funding. Yes, I paid for it.
MA: Funded by the National Research Council of Science and Engineering, Canada.
For my PhD, I was funded by the Commonwealth of Nations (5 of us) as a Commonwealth of Nations Research Fellow. This was in the late 1960's/early 1970's. Funding then was less than $3,000 per year for 4 years. I elected to study in Australia, all transportation cost from Canada and back was funded as well. 2020 money? Probably $150,000 altogether.
c) PostDoctoral Fellowship back in Canada then some 30+ years teaching post secondary biology courses. 1975 - 2006.
d) I had an intense curiosity about the subject. The entire system was very indulgent and accommodating to my wishes. Yes. I would do it all over again in a minute.

 

[Wander]

A - BA (hons) English and Art History. PhD in (broadly) Gothic art and literature

B - Not as an undergraduate. I believe I was the last year to receive grants and not loans. There were no tuition fees either. It was all gloriously FREE! As a post-graduate I got some money from the AHRB, and had to fund the rest myself from savings and part time work.

C - That's a difficult one. Personally, I do not believe that education is about programming people to become economic units. I have a more Socratic attitude to education. Therefore, one's education is entirely relevant to their employment because it makes and shapes them. Education is not about what you know but what you do with what you know. Therefore we can see subjects as a way of learning critical skills, a conduit to acquiring the ability to think for oneself, to analyse, synthesise, and understand. If you come out of it with those skills then you have learnt something relevant to whatever job it is you do.
On a practical level, I taught English literature (and some cultural studies) at university for a few years. Then I started writing books. I don't think those things would have happened without attending HE, but I didn't have any particular aims when I did go to university.

D - Hmm...probably. If I were going to university today I would urge myself to think good and hard about whether it was necessary or not, and then advise myself to do what I was interested in - since everything from a nursery upwards now calls itself a university, degrees are ten-a-penny. Today's degree is worth no more than yesterday's A levels. So many people now go to university that if you come away with anything less than a 2:1 you've wasted your time and racked up a massive debt doing so. So do what you are interested in because then you stand a better chance of getting a better grade.

 

[Tony]

BSc Construction Management
& a PGCE

Finished my degree in 2000, mixture of student loans and not much fees, I think I owed about £15k at the end of it, paid it all off before doing my PGCE in 2004. I was married and living in a bedsit (we had a baby while the bedsit as well!) wife was working as pregnancy allowed.

My degree got me a job in IT, not directly related but i had skills that were transferable. But I've not really used it much, my practical experience was probably more useful in life generally.

If I Knew what I know now I might take a different route, but if it meant changing where I am now, family, location etc I don't think I'd change anything.

On another note, my son is just finishing his last year of a integrated masters degree in Physics, he's probably owing about £30k in student loans, but he's very good with his money so he's got a fair bit saved. He's aiming to do another masters next year in London on AI and Ethics etc (lots of physics in there) but he won't be able to do that without a bursary as his help with tuition etc is used up.
If he doesn't do the Ai & Ethics he'll probably go into teaching. He'll use his degree is what I'm saying.

 

[Broch]

A) BSc (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering specialising in Systems Engineering (computers in control etc.) and Nuclear Engineering (never did use that). Followed in later life by an MBA in Technology Management.

B) First degree - nothing - I was sponsored by the MOD and paid a salary. However, I did buy a house so I was penniless . MBA - about £9K IIRC, my company paid for it so that's technically me (though I couldn't claim my training for tax, I could claim for all my employees training costs but not mine). And it was mainly distance learning so no additional living costs.

C) Well, I did; I'm retired now. However, I still think I apply a lot of my degree to everyday activities if I am honest. I don't decorate a room without doing a project plan

D) I don't think I'd change anything but there s a lot more choice in technical courses now. However, around here, an electrician can write their own cheques so I suspect there's more money in a good trade . The MBA was a marketing exercise - a label I could sell.

 

[Laurentius]

A). I failed my first degree which was Politics and Economics joint honours, it was back in the 1970s and was paid for by the state. I learned more by failing it than I ever did by succeeding, however later in life I went back to do a degree in special education and ended up with a PhD. The PhD straddles the fields of Education and Psychology

B) I had to pay for the PhD and the courses I did before that, but I was living at home so no extra accomodation costs, just regular travel. I cannot really estimate the total cost as I also attended a lot of conferences which added to it, but did get a couple of scholarships that helped out a bit.

C) I had hoped to go on to do some post doctoral research, but really am too old to be considered. I have certainly used my degree though, being on various advisory committees, writing papers and stuff, doing a little lecturing. I have actually made some impact in my field one way or another.

D) If I had my time again, I would not have gone straight from school to University, I really was not ready for it, I would however not have left it as late as I did to go back. I would probably have studied Psychology or Sociology with an emphasis on disability studies. This is all speculative however because it took a long time for disability studies to get to where it is today so the opportunities would not have been there, and it is all the lived experience that allowed me to make the impact I have. In the beginning I pushed to go to University because it is what my parents wanted, not what I wanted and in the light of all that I have become an apostle of life long education, and a believer that education should also give back something to the community.

 

[fenix]

A. Went he BTEC route, ND followed by HND. Environmental Science.

B. I had a maintenance grant topped up with a student loan. My parents were skint and I was the first and only person in my immediate family to go to uni. Debt over 2 years was about £5k. I didn't start paying back until a couple of years because I hadn't hit the payback threshold. Debt was about 3/4 of my 1st years salary.

C. Yes I use it, although not in the way I had expected. I have ended up going down a science / engineering route, not conservation. But I have been doing work that's partly HSE based where I am now, a lot of that's to do with hazardous materials.

D. Have always wondered if I did the right course, maybe should have done something more engineering based. Having said that I was a terrible student. Other routes would have been tree surgery, or go on shift at a local pharmaceutical R&D site ( I ended up working there for 12 years as an instrument engineer). Shift work at pharma sites can pay really good money, you didnt need qualifications to get in to it, and you could get paid to study.

 

[Tengu]

a) Archaeology BSc (Unusual to study as a Science and not a Humanity).

b) Student loan.

c) I'm using it in future studies and hopefully eventually a job. (Got my first paid work last month but that's just odds and ends)

d) Oh, yes! I just want to go on and do other things. Being in education is great fun.

 

[gra_farmer]

A) BSc environment science, PhD Biological sciences - botanical, environmental chemistry, GIS, hydrochemistry.

B) BSc had to pay, ~£3,000 per year, PhD mixture of scholarship and putting British open golf courses into agri environment schemes and getting them to paid additional lab/chemicals/travel/equipment costs.

Total cost from BSc to PhD ~£150,000, and 7 years of my life obtaining the two degrees.

C) Yes, everyday and every job afterwards was dependent on the degree obtained and the skills learnt.

D) Yes I would do it again, but earlier on in my life if possible.

 

[C_Claycomb]

A) Mechanical Engineering. MEng

B) Was last year of grants. No tuition fees. Parents helped, dad very negative about loans, so didn't have much money to burn...frequent arguments with parents about money, with them trying to give me some and me trying to not to take it! Was 1995-2000 and I couldn't tell you off hand what living costs were. Don't think rent ever went above £55 per week for a room and kitchen access in a shared 4-bed apartment.

C) Got a job in aerospace engineering. Currently looking for work, but will still be in similar or related industry. Definitely relevant.

D) I would advise me to do it again. Maybe with some adjustments, but I cannot think of another degree I would want more.

I look at mechanical engineering as the best degree for employment since there are multiple industries to go into and no need to be creative or imaginative to figure out where to go and show that skills are transferable. Then one hears that many of the highest scoring graduates are snapped up by financial institutions that value the engineering approach to problems.

 

[Toddy]

A) BSc(hons) Archaeology.

B) Grants paid for it all. I stayed at home and travelled into the University. It was common to do this at the time.

C) Used the degree in Archaeology, but latterly it was used more as a door opener to work with public bodies.
I don't use it now. I have rheumatoid arthritis, my husband has been retired for over twenty years, it's easier all round if I don't work now.

D) No, I wouldn't do this degree, or rather I'd do the Archaeology but I would have kept to my original intention and have done a joint honours with Geography. I would also have taken a year out and then gone back and done the Masters and PhD that was lined up for me.
I just had had enough. It's not a regret, just an acceptance that more, in this specific career, does make it easier to find research funding, etc.,
If doing my degree now, I'd do a heck of a lot of GIS. There's a lot of work in GIS and it is applicable to so many other career paths.

 

[henchy3rd]

I know it’s not on the level as you lot.
I never had the brains at school in the 70s/80s because of my poor learning capabilities.

I left with no qualifications until I was 19 or 20 & soon realised I could get government grants to help me learn to read & boost my confidence & capabilities,to which I used to my full advantage & I’m grateful for the help.
I’ve now an NVQ 1,2 & 3 in building maintance & joinery.
PASMA scaffold tower certificate
IPAF boom lift certificate
NCFT level 1 & 2 in dry stone walling.
Was doing a Helmsman course until Covid kicked in.(I paid for that one)
A certificate in survival( kind of a gimmick, but hey-ho).
I’ve my own small business in commercial interior refurbishment for 24 years & doing a management course.(struggling on that one)

I’ve always been around people with a passion for ecology & the natural world as I know their ideas rub off on me and I’m eager to learn.
My dream would to be an entomologist or environmental researcher..but I no my limitations as I’m not clever enough.
I have had my name mentioned in the journals for new species of Hemiptera(true bugs)& Coleoptera(beetles)in Derbyshire, I even held a talk about the life cycle & anatomy at Derby natural history society once.
So who knows what tomorrow brings.
Goodnight.

 

[Tengu]

You sound like perfect Uni material.

 

[Madriverrob]

1. BSC ( Hons ) Social Work Studies . Went to University at Forty after doing an access to higher education course as I didn't do A levels ( Joined the Army at 17 ).

2. Completed part time whilst working full time , iirc the part time route was subsidised so only cost me £600 per year ( four years ) . No loans , not debt but was difficult working and studying especially negotiating time off with employer to complete 200 days of placement over the 4 years .

3. Work as a Social Worker for a Local Authority .

4. I think social work training should be more vocational and less academic /theory based . Older students with life experience make better social workers than young adults straight from University in my opinion. If I had my time again I wouldn't choose social work , I think I'd rather have focussed on a trade qualification but maybe that's just my dissatisfaction with my current lot

 

[MikeeMiracle]

In the older days having a degree was just a measure of your capability to learn something. Some company's still insist on them but I found this is just to try and weed out the trash, my last 4 jobs required a degree and yet I still got them without one.

Recent research showed not much if any difference in pay between colleagues who have degree's or those who don't. However.....That same research showed that those who have a degree in the subject they are employed in have significantly higher salary's than those who have degree's in an unrelated subject.

 

[Tengu]

And how many people are employed in the area they are Graduated in?

 

[Stew]

A ) BSc Sports & Exercise Science.

B ) £3k a year to the university I think, paid as a loan. No idea on living costs to be honest. I have always ignored the university cost post-university - the loan will disappear eventually but I'm in no rush!

C ) No.

D ) Too tricky to answer. It's the butterfly effect if it changes. I'm where I am now because of the path I've walked. University was a big part of my life and fundamentally I wouldn't change it, despite not being directly relevant to my current employment. It does mean I have a chance against internet experts on certain subjects though....

 

[MrEd]

A few questions regarding Degree based Higher Education which I think will make a UK based response more likely.

A ) What is your Degree in? - 2 degrees, BSc in Nursing and a BSc in Acute and Critical Care Adult Nursing

B ) Did you have to pay for your Degree? If so how much do you think your Degree and living costs accumulated to be at the end of the study - ie overall cost of Degree + Living Costs for 3 years. - Tuition fees were covered by the NHS for the 1st degree, and i got a bursary of £450(ish) a month (this was in 2005) and i left uni with about £8k debt (credit card and a couple of over drafts), 2nd degree work paid for but all else i covered out of my wages (it was a part time degree) so i didnt accrue debt.

C ) Do you actually use your Degree in a relevant way to your current Job ? ( If you have one ) - yes i do, it is mandatory to my professional licence to practise (NMC)

D ) If you had your time again - would you have you advise yourself to do the same subject? or maybe forgo the Degree path entirely? - i dont know, i almost did forestry and environmental sciences..... but on balance i love my job and the doors my degrees have opened for me, and i get job satisfaction in spades


If we can keep the answers to a rough Format I would appreciate it - Thank You.

 

[oldtimer]

A/B BA in Cultural Studies/ History of Art, Open University ( I paid but was supported by LEA) Teacher's Certificate (Grant paid ), Advanced Diploma in Educational Studies (Local Educational granted me a sabbatical year to do this full-time at Cambridge on full pay), two Certificates of Further Educational Studies, Cambridge University paid for one and University of East Anglia paid for the other) Ofsted Registered Inspector Status. (Government paid.)

C Apart from OU degree, all else related to work as teacher/headteacher/lecturer in Education/school inspector. OU degree was for my own interest, but was used as evidence of ability when being head-hunted for the other professional development courses.

D I was a classic 60's drop-out. I didn't like my Direct Grant/ Minor Public School but loved learning and left without doing A levels. Did series of unsuitable and/or dead-end jobs. Got accepted onto a teacher-training course at 25 on the evidence of interview alone. All else followed thanks to employers/managers identifying my potential and investing in it.
I chose the teaching route as it guaranteed employment, long holidays and opportunities for travel. I suspect also a subconscious desire to help others to avoid my own school experiences.
As to would I go this route again, no. My wife had a similar unconventional background, did night school A levels and Cambridge degree in her 40s before lecturing at Cambridge, researching and becoming an adviser to the government.
We made damned sure that our two sons did not go the hard and time-wasting route we did. and pressured them hard to go to university to equip them to make life choices. One rose to the top ranks of an international charity and is now a respected and sought after consultant, the other has a small-holding in Spain where he lives off his land. Both of them have followed the paths they chose. and both succeeded at them. My wife and I both regret the waste of time and potential in our own careers. We are making financial provision to ensure the maximum of choice for our grandchildren's' higher education..

I realise you are seeking information rather than discussion, but the nature of the questions betrays a, to me, worrying bias towards an instrumental view of education which I have fought against throughout my career. The view of those who wish to tie education to the work-place instead of enabling individuals to realise their full potential are in the ascendancy: this is to be regretted.

 

[Broch]

I realise you are seeking information rather than discussion, but the nature of the questions betrays a, to me, worrying bias towards an instrumental view of education which I have fought against throughout my career. The view of those who wish to tie education to the work-place instead of enabling individuals to realise their full potential are in the ascendancy: this is to be regretted.

I understand your viewpoint but I couldn't have done my job if I hadn't had higher level education in engineering. I was designing and building things when I was a kid and to go on to study a subject that enabled me to do that for a living was ideal. When I was an employer, I couldn't have taken on anyone with a humanities degree to design complex digital electronic circuits though I had a couple of people doing software without engineering degrees. There's no one solution fits all.