Kids nowadays come out of UK universities with large debt. Given this, is it better to go and do a degree (4-yr Business Admin with 2x 6 month industrial placements) or spend those years working your way up in a career?

Let's first talk about debt. What is debt? Let's look at two types.... First, Mortgage: You agree upfront how much you're going to pay. You agree upon a rate of interest that will be added to your debt as you pay it off If you can't pay it then you have to hope to make an arrangement with your lender, otherwise they could try to recoup the debt you owe If you don't repay and the lender has to recoup what you owe then your credit rating will be affected for the taking out of further debt Your ability to take the loan in the first place is subject to your having a good credit rating If you die your debt has to be managed, it is not gone it is there for someone else to deal with or for the lender to recoup as it is able Second, abstractly, Income Tax (an ongoing debt to the state for services rendered past, present and future) You don't know precisely what you'll pay in a lifetime, it is linked to your income You are always able to pay it as it is a percentage of your income (assuming you're not self employed and in a specific and unfortunate set of circumstances) If you stop being able to pay, through not earning, you don't pay any more until you do start earning. If you die, you don't owe any more income tax to the state, and no-one else is required to pay additionally for you in this regard Your credit rating isn't harmed by you stopping payments because you are no longer earning (as you are not expected to pay!) So, with these in mind...and given that I'm being very abstract by terming "Income Tax" as a debt...do we have a right to call a student loan "debt" While we know it's for a set amount, with an interest that gets added...that's really where the parallels with debt end. Repayment is linked to earnings, and crucially your debt is written off when you die or after a certain period of time. This is explicitly contrary to how a traditional debt would be handled. With that said I can answer the question... it comes down to your personal preference. During university there is more that you will take from it than a degree. Depending on your age and socio-economic status University is one of the most efficient ways to explore who you are, what your relationship is with others and society, and gives you more time than you will ever get again to become truly knowledgeable about what you want to do. During this time you'll meet lecturers who can, with the right relationship formed, become important mentors for your early years in your career...unburdened by office politics and being stuck in the "culture" of the workplace you'll enter! You'll also meet lots of people doing the same type of thing you want to do, and that early networking can open doors and opportunities later down the line in a way that starting your career from square 1 can't provide. Then there are the placements. It can't be underestimated the power of being able to actually *try* the work you'll be doing when you graduate both without the expectation to be someone who needs to get everything right and without the business needing you to be ready to take the whole job on after that short period. To be able to go in to more than one company and see how it works, without the level of pressure you'll face as a graduate, is an insight that money can't buy...especially if it turns out that the kind of business or business area you thought you wanted to work in is not your cup of tea after all! Choosing not to want to go back to a place you were on placement for looks absolutely fine, quitting your first job after 6 months does not. Both should be acceptable, but one will raise flags about your stamina and ability to adapt to a workplace while the other just looks like you've been interested in gaining experience. There's a lot said about how graduate salaries aren't significantly higher than if you'd go straight into your career and anecdotally I'd say my experience and the experience of those around me says this is probably more often than not true, and so it is likely that spending 4 years just working up your career will have longer term financial gains as you are not having to pay back a student loan at 9% (or whatever the rate is when you agree to it) over the earnings threshold. So the ultimate question is this... do you want to give yourself space to find yourself, and the right way forward in your career, at the cost of potentially somewhere around £36k+ over your working lifetime (based on current earnings threshold and average full time salary of £26k), or do you want to get stuck in, maximise your earnings, and do as much learning as you can on the job? Personally I'd always choose the university option, the "cost" for having those 4 years of relative freedom is one of the best value things you'll ever stump up money for.

It very much depends what you would like to get out of university. If you sign up for 3/4 years of uni, purely to get into a career that is otherwise accessible without a degree, then I believe this question is up for debate. If you want to go to university to learn fist and foremost, but also enjoy the relative freedom compared to the 9-5, the chance to join/create societies and be surrounded by other like-minded, ambitious students (albeit at a cost), then university is they way to go. Nowadays, university loans are more like a life tax, something which I'm happy to pay given what I gained whilst at uni. On a final note, I regret not making the absolute most of the free time I had at university. There are so many opportunities out there for those who are driven, opportunities that are much harder to come by when you're in an office all week.

Firstly it is not all UK. English children run up a massive debt, Scots are free, Welsh heavily subsidised, Not sure on position in N.I. Historical data shows that those with a degree will on average earn more over a working lifetime than those without. The arguments become less clear once you move away from "traditional degrees" and in to the areas of Tourism and Leisure, Business Studies etc. the exception being I.T.  for obvious reasons. Essentially if you intend to make a career in an industry/occupation where a degree is an entry requirement then so be it. Otherwise the extra earnings and lack of debt from not going to Uni may be to your advantage. There are exceptions to this. One of the Major UK retailers runs both a graduate entrant scheme and a "shopfloor" managerial entrant scheme (aimed at those with A levels)  A level entrants seem to hit a glass ceiling .