It cost me ~£33,000 to come to this conclusion and with new fees it may cost you £50,000, if you go to London like I did.
How do I feel? Like I wasted my time and my money? Never. Sometimes it's the elephant in the room when you talk with people about it. I would love to pick other peoples brains on this, those who feel the degree is specifically and only a precursor to a career... hell, their first argument would be 'why would I spend so much money on time on something like that and not use it?'
Well, here is why I think going to university is worth it no matter what. I won't directly disagree with the above assertion because it makes a lot of sense... but I didn't know what I wanted to do for a career when I was 17 - how many people do? If you can make that 10+ year decision at 17 you're an incredibly focused person and I admire you. For everyone else, here are five reasons you should feel great if you don't want to go on and do what it is you read at uni....
I even order them in terms of how important they are (to me) and some of the points overlap.
The people
University will be the best opportunity in your life to meet people who will change your life for the better. This is an indisputable point and I will argue it until I'm blue in the face - although no one has ever disagreed with me on it. How can you? Where else can you bring together thousands and thousands of people, probably living away from home for the first time, to one place to study and learn and develop? Everyone so desperate to find a place for themselves.. it brings you together. I have more lifelong friends from 3 years at uni then I do the previous 18 at home! Anyway. Be inspired by your lecturers, encouraged by your peers and maybe even loved by someone real hot - university can make it happen for you.
Freedom and time to make a choice
If there's a career 'ladder' then you start low and climb high over the course of years, which ladder do you want to climb up? Do you know yet? Which doors do you want to go through? This is a central feature of university, scoffed at by many as people who 'don't want to grow up and join the real world'. There will come a time in my life when I specialise in some certain field and more and more ladders are taken away but that won't be now - what a terrible thought that I could have chosen my entire life path already? And I feel this way at 22. At 17 and 18... forget about it. You go to university, you keep doors open. Hopefully you have some idea of the direction you want to go in so you can choose a course that keeps the right doors open. If you don't know even that, don't worry about it. Choose something you're interested in and go from there.
Opportunities
The UK, perhaps USA and perhaps Australian work market is open to you, person without degree. What about everywhere else? Forget about europe or asia, they've been offering ultra cheap higher education for decades, a degree is a pre-requisite to get an interview anywhere. If you don't plan to go abroad then that's all good and easy but it's all about those ladders, how many do you want to choose from? Just like above, uni gives you the time and freedom to delay choosing your ladders, to find inspiration and ideas from the people you meet... but how many ladders you have to choose from will greatly decrease by not going to university - even on a domestic scale. You find a lot of people who don't go to university won't be interested in doing graduate-style jobs anyway so you may hear that this 'opportunities' ideal is a load of bollocks. Bollocks to them my unsure friends, hedge your bets and keep as many ladders to hand as possible.
Growing the f*** up
How many people who don't go to university move out of their family home at 18? It's kind of chastening to hear about 'the university of real life' from people who still live with their mum and dad but there you go. If I didn't go to uni I would as well so this isn't a sleight - it's just a fact. Living by yourself, you will find out what type of person you are - be receptive to yourself during this time because some people thrive and some people suffer and if you realise this as you live it you can make great leaps forward in your personal development. You may have to make more of an effort than you did before depending on your home life and that is a necessary and beautiful thing in this day and age! Learn to cook. It helps in so many ways... ;)
Fun!
Enjoy yourself man! How desperate are you to take on a job, responsibilities, bills? Why let anyone else whinging that you've 'got it easy' get you down? Screw them. I had more fun at university then I have had at almost any other point in my life, although travelling is pushing it a close second. I guarantee almost all of you will not have the time or energy to have this much fun again until you retire - and when you retire, you'll be old man! Maybe with kids. Much less getting smashed and going home with the fattest person at the bar. That's a beautiful thing no matter how you look at it...
As for the financial argument against going to university - here are some links.
Top table shows average hourly pay for graduates vs non graduates
An age based earnings table - watch as the graduates earnings grow and grow with age!
There are specialist non-academic careers (like piloting) that fall outside the bounds of the financial argument but everything else stands. Note I didn't put making more money as a reason to go to university - it doesn't make my top five... but the evidence is posted in those links for you to see.
Tell your kids to go to university, it'll be the best thing they ever do.
