University – David Hopkins / Education & Leadership

A while ago (way, way back) I wrote a few posts about things I was learning from my kids. As they approach their GCSE and A-level years, the topic of ‘what do you do next’ has risen a few times. Both have had school trips to local universities and we obviously talk across the dinner table about my work and experience in higher education, so it’s only natural they have opinions and thoughts on the question of “do you want to go to university?”

What has struck me talking with them isn’t whether they want to go, it’s how they are approaching the topic and how they are considering their options.

When I was their age, university was mostly framed as the obvious next step. If you were doing reasonably well at school, the message was simple: go to university, get a degree, and things would broadly work out. There were questions about which subject, or which city, or how far from home it was, but not really about whether the whole thing made sense in the first place.

For me I made two mistakes – wrong course, wrong university. It has worked out in the long run (mostly) but I didn’t give the process enough attention and didn’t really think through the options and consequences of my decision. I was just happy to be going to university and becoming independent, which is all I thought I needed.

Listening to my kids talk about it now feels very different. The conversations are much more cautious, more practical, almost strategic.

They talk about the cost. They talk about the debt. They talk about whether the subject they enjoy will lead anywhere. They talk about careers, salaries, housing, travel, and whether living at home for a few more years might be the smarter option (uh oh!).

At one point recently my eldest said something along the lines of, “I’ll only go if it’s worth it.”

That stuck with me, not because it’s necessarily wrong but because it’s such a different way of thinking about choice than the one many of us grew up with. For them, the decision isn’t just about education or experience. It’s framed much more like a financial commitment. I’m not sure how, at their age, they can quantify ‘if it’s worth it’, but they seem to have a handle on it. This is something their schools are doing well, bringing this level of questioning to them before they need to make the decision.

And to be fair, the numbers are hard to ignore. Under the current system in England, a student can easily graduate with £50,000 or more in student loan debt. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has written about how the repayment system works more like a long-term graduate tax than a traditional loan, but that nuance rarely appears in headlines. What young people see is the big number, and it’s getting bigger even when it’s being repaid!.

They also see the wider context. Stories about graduates struggling with debt. Debates about whether some degrees represent value for money. News articles questioning whether certain courses lead to meaningful employment. The cost-of-living crisis isn’t an abstract policy discussion for them; it’s the background noise of everyday life.

Schools have done a lot to promote and educate my kids about the best and worst of university life, but what they can’t do is answer the basic question of ‘is it worth it?’ With visits to to universities and from universities, this is still the one question they haven’t had answered, and it’s the foundation of their doubt.

So their reaction is understandably cautious. They aren’t rejecting university. In fact, both of mine still talk about the idea with a fair amount of excitement; new places, independence, and studying something they care about is all there, but at what price? Alongside that excitement is a very visible calculation. What will it cost? What will I earn afterwards? Why not just go out and start work doing something I like?

I find their approach mature and impressive: teenagers today seem to be far more aware than I was at that age. They understand the stakes earlier, and they ask questions that probably should have been asked more often in the past.

At the same time, there is something slightly sobering about hearing a seventeen-year-old weigh their future like that. University used to be presented as an opportunity. Increasingly, it is discussed as a risk. And listening to my kids talk about it tells you a lot about the world they feel they’re stepping into.

Photo by Peter Herrmann on Unsplash

Related