BLOG: Degrees of difficulty
Parents and young people are facing a difficult dilemma - to invest in a degree or not and fear a great chance has been missed.
The decision has been made more urgent by the much publicised change in funding - and talk of how a student will be £25,000 in debt if they start uni in September 2011 but £60,000 in debt if they don’t start until a year later.
There are ways to make life easier.
Degree-level learning is not always about going away to university. It can mean taking a professionally recognised HNC leading to an HND at an FE College. It can also mean starting a Foundation Degree at your local FE College and completing the third and final year at university.
In both cases you will be saving the cost of “away from home” accommodation and all that comes with it. Staying at home also means you can keep that valuable part time job which will always look good on your CV.
There is no doubt that some careers paths can be taken only by the university route. In which case remember, although you have the debt you don’t start to pay it back until you are earning above a certain level, and even then at a relatively small amount per month spread over years.
Another new approach is the introduction of Higher Apprenticeships which give young people a chance to combine work with study and avoid any tuition costs.
In Bedford and Milton Keynes, Bedford College is working with the 3AAAs organisation in offering apprenticeships in IT and Accountancy.
The latter is close to my heart as I am a Management Accountant - and it never stopped me getting the best job in Bedford - as CEO of Bedford College!
Most CEOs of top companies have accountancy qualifications of some sort - and they didn’t all go to university to get there. The old route was evening classes combined with office work during the day. The new apprenticeship route means you can be working and earning.
Being a parent myself I sympathise with the worry of what to do for the best for a son or daughter, who at 16, 17 or 18 may not know what they want to do for the rest of their lives.
If it helps, we have an Open Day at Bedford College on Friday August 26th 10 - 5pm when we have teams of people on hand to give advice.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t end up being a student of Bedford College - we just want to make sure you understand all the options open to you in this very difficult time.
