Over half of graduates dissatisfied with degree value for money

A survey conducted by the National Union of Students (NUS) has found that over half of the first cohort of students to pay £9000 tuition fees don’t think that their degree was worth the money.

56 percent of the recent graduates said that the high fees had made their course bad value, despite a good standard in the quality of teaching, with one in twenty saying that they would not go to university if they had the choice again.

Although the overall satisfaction for the university experience has not been diminished by high fees, with another survey noting that 86 percent were satisfied, the overhanging debt casts a shadow of worry for many.

43 percent believed that the debt they were left with would affect their standard of living upon graduation, with 77 percent worried about the debt overall. With the government’s recent decision to change maintenance grants to loans, the worry for students is only thought to be on the increase.

Callum Cant, a representative from the movement Warwick for Free Education, said that this was part of the government’s continued targeting of poorer students.

He said that this change reinforces “the government’s blatant vision of a marketized and business-driven education system, but they are a direct and vicious attack on the poorest students.

“This totally obliterates the government’s previous notions that the student loans system is a ‘level playing field’ and that students are ‘all in the same position’ upon graduation. Warwick for Free Education believes in universal living grants for all students, and this is something we will continue to fight for alongside thousands of other angry students across the country.”

Sorana Vieru of the NUS also urged the government to pay attention to student concerns. She said: “Graduates are rightfully worried about their future, not only in terms of finding a graduate job, but also regarding how their finances will be affected by larger debts that the majority will be repaying until there are in their 50s.

“These results show how the myth of consumer empowerment is being questioned by graduates who, on reflection, are able to see that the quality of the student experience is not linked to an increase in tuition fees.”