When he originally came to power, Tony Blair proudly stated his party’s big focus was “Education, Education, Education�. A praiseworthy enough focus and obviously not something one would immediately link to frustration and increasing personal debt. But over the years, as more institutions have gained the status of a university, and student loans have become effortlessly available to so many more, schools have encouraged greater numbers of young people to go for degrees without really pointing out the cost.

There isn’t any doubt that we need a much more educated society, but are youngsters actually getting the best advice? Let’s face it; is it such a tricky sell to promote to an eighteen year old to leave home and live with mates, not worry about obtaining a job for three or four years and get discounted beer at the university bar. A simplified interpretation perhaps – of course there’s a tad of studying to be done, and a degree of juggling to make ends meet, then the rewards will be worth it in years to come. Or will they? For a great deal of families, the cost of university education lasts for a long time after graduation, both socially and financially.

The student loan system (the best method of funding for university undergraduates), fees for tuition, accommodation and day to day living expenses over the time spent studying can set you back well over £30,000 – with no guarantee of a job. It’s not a funny joke that freedom-seeking teenagers out to conquer the world too often are forced to return home because they can’t find work. Not only do fathers and mothers find themselves still stumping up the cash, but time on their hands adult children in the house again can obviously get in the way!

Formal education can be a great thing for young people, and is the only path for many of our professions. But schools and parents ought to know that in some areas, there are other, sometimes superior alternatives. As far as IT is concerned, employers are crying out for professionally qualified IT professionals. Only having a university degree means students regularly need to supplement their IT training skills to be industry ready and compete in the job market against Microsoft, CompTIA or Cisco professionals. The sad thing is they would have qualified two to three years earlier and not had a five figure debt if they’d studied with a global online computer training provider. Perhaps alcohol in the college bar isn’t such good value after all – surely the family coffers would be a lot less depleted, and there’d certainly be more room on the sofa!.

(C) Scott Edwards - www.learninglolly.com. Scott Edwards has been involved in the IT and Training Industry for 30 years.

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