Going to university is still financially worth it ... for some

The Institute of Fiscal Studies has calculated that most students still financially benefit from going to university but 20% are worse off after paying for courses. Over their working lives, male graduates, on average, gain by £130,000 and female graduates by £100,000. The study shows wide variations between different subjects. For women, the financial gains of studying creative arts and languages are ‘close to zero’ Medicine will bring an extra £340,000 for women, economics £270,000 and £260,000 for Law. Men studying creative arts subjects are projected to lose £100,000, compared to their counterparts who did not go to university. For men in the top-earning subject areas of Medicine and Economics, the likely gain is £500,000. For both men and women there are low financial returns for graduates in English and Biology

Rise in university drop-out rates

Figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show that the dropout rate for first-year students continues to rise. England had the highest non-continuation rate at 6.9%, up from 6.5% in 2014-15. In both Wales and Scotland the rate was 6.1%, each lower than in 2014-15. Among mainstream universities, a number had non-continuation rates of between 15% and 26%, with Bedfordshire and London Metropolitan having amongst the worst dropout rates and the Courtauld Institute of Art the best (0). 

Michelle Donelan, the universities minister for England, said: “With high numbers of students continuing to drop out, this data shows progress is slow from some institutions to tackle the issue. I want universities to step up and take action as we cannot let these students down and let talent go to waste.”