Is a university degree really worth £9,250 a year in tuition fees?

Analysis: Men who take certain subjects at university earn less than their peers who went straight to work, but Eleanor Busby says we should be cautious of rallying against the higher education sector

Going to university can be a positive experience in and of itself (Getty)

The latest figures on potential earnings for university graduates paint a very mixed picture. If you’re a female considering higher education, you’re likely to feel reassured by the overwhelmingly positive gains. But for young men, signing up to tens of thousands of pounds of debt might not seem as attractive.

The government data, which has been analysed by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), suggests that thousands of men are enrolling on university courses each year that leave them worse off in future earnings by the end of their twenties than their peers who opted to avoid higher education altogether.

It is likely to reignite the age-old debate about whether university is worth it – especially for a specific group of male undergraduates. Men with low prior attainment, and no science or maths A-levels, only saw a small rise (4 per cent) in their earnings at age 29 compared with peers who went straight to work.

And the picture for all male graduates is most stark in subjects like creative arts, English and philosophy, where they actually earn less than their peers who are not saddled with student debt.

The data shows that studying philosophy at the University of Sussex leaves male graduates with the worst returns (-73 per cent), while computing at the University of Westminster (-66 per cent) is the worst for female graduates.

Creative arts courses at higher education institutions also feature in the bottom five for both male and female graduates for their earnings return, the figures show.

While the data may be depressing to some, it is no helpful that prospective students at least have more transparency around salary outcomes for different subjects. The introduction of £9,250 a year tuition fees has made this more pressing.

However, there is a danger that a focus solely on earnings potential could distract from some of the other benefits of higher education that cannot be as easily measured.

Students may be put off from studying creative arts because of poor financial outcomes. But this is not everything. Many who graduate in that subject may go on to contribute hugely to the arts industry – and perhaps even become stars of the West End in due course – even though their earnings in their twenties may not indicate success later in their career.

Certainly many in the higher education sector argue that a snapshot of earnings at age 29 does not tell the full picture.

So yes, the data offers useful insights – especially for students making decisions about what and where to study. And universities that are offering courses generally known to increase earnings, like economics, but that fail to get significantly positive returns for students should be held to account.

But it is important not to jump the gun. Going to university should not all be about salaries, and context is needed when judging institutions – especially specialist arts providers – on outcomes.