Student Moans And The Quarterlife Crisis
It’s that time of year again when global issues take second
place in the British media, to make space for the great ‘A’
level debate. Packed with case studies of “Laura achieved nine A
grades and was still rejected from her first choice”, you have
to wonder how long students can maintain the will to study. It’s
not just the fact that companies and newspapers are debating
whether students are actually getting more stupid (’A’ levels
are the new GCSEs apparently), students are debating themselves
whether they are getting more stupid by even considering going
to university in the first place.
Lazy British journalists are still reciting that the average
graduate starting salary is still around 25,000. At Cashzilla,
we’re not entirely sure where they get this figure as most
graduates start well below this - sometime as low as 12,000.
that’s not much money at all when you owe more that that in
student debt.
But still as unimaginative schools and parents coax their kids
into three (or more) years of vacant academia, it takes a gutsy
18 year old to take a long term approach to what they may wish
to do with their life.
It is true that there will always be careers that demand a
university education, but many young people get pushed on to the
higher education conveyer belt, without any idea of what they’re
doing there. If there was a booming graduate jobs market at the
end of the production market - vacant graduates would be fine.
But there are real concerns about how crowded the universities
are becoming and how students are managing their finances. It is
a phenomenal burden to allow students to borrow such significant
amount of money and then watch them struggle for employment upon
graduation. Even when they get a job, many find it doesn’t meet
the high expectations pumped into them at university. No wonder
the “quarter life crisis” has become a lifestyle segment.
If you are a student, graduate or university virgin, you must
read Damian Barr’s article “Crying on the inside” from Times
Online (
rel="nofollow">http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8123-1093294,00.html
), it’s a superb summary of life as a British twenty-something.
On a slightly more practical, but just as constructive note,
there is an abundance of advice and support available on the
internet. Support for learning is a superb site (
w.support4learning.org.uk/money/index.htm ) and moneynet
offers an excellent student finance guide (
http://www.moneynet.co.uk/student-finance-guide/index.shtml
), but don’t get distracted by searching for additional loans
and credit cards!
By all means go to university and have lots of fun, but bear in
mind that the graduate market is hugely competitive … and again
… t h e g r a d u a t e m a r k e t i s h u g e l y c o m p e t
i t i v e. We would rather see young people take some time out
to work, travel and gain experience before embarking on a
hedonistic journey of sex, drugs and rock and roll. Yes you have
the right to an education, but remember that education does not
always lead to freedom, especially with the current price of a
degree.
