Over half of the general public don’t think university is good value for money

Over half of the general public think that the £9.25k tuition fees students have to cough up in order to go to university are bad value for money.

A YouGov poll has revealed that 69 per cent of graduates agree that university education isn’t worth the hefty price tag.

On top of that, 44 per cent of those who attended university actually think graduates will be financially worse off in the long run after deciding to pursue higher education.

Nick Hillman is head of the Higher Education Policy Institute and was the man behind the tuition fee programme brought in back in 2012.

Hillman points out that the public opinion that university isn’t good value for money, jars with the surging popularity of undergraduate degrees.

On August 18th (A-Level results day), a record 426,000 students held offers at UK unis with thousands more hunting for places on Clearing.

“University demand is higher than it has ever been before. It might seem overpriced but people are still willing to go,” Hillman told The Guardian.

The YouGov survey also asked respondents how they think university education should be funded.

42 per cent were in support of the current tuition fee system, while 26 per cent thought degrees should be paid for through general taxation.

A further 11 per cent were in favour of a graduate tax.

Meanwhile, across the pond in the USA, President Joe Biden has launched a policy of tuition fee forgiveness.

He’s basically cutting the student loan debt for millions of uni grads by about $10k each.

Featured image: Shutterstock / Brian Minkoff

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