Daily Junction.mobi portalOpinion · July 18, 2026 · Naomi Clarke · 8 min
Students graduate with £60,000 debt for degrees that don't lead to jobs. It's time to admit university is a scam for most people.
We have been lying to young people for 30 years. We told them: "Go to university, get a degree, get a good job." But the reality is: 50% of graduates work in non-graduate jobs 5 years after graduation, earning £25,000–£30,000 — less than plumbers, electricians, or software developers who never went to university and have no debt. Students graduate with £60,000 debt (average for a 3-year degree) for degrees that do not lead to jobs. The graduate premium (extra earnings from a degree) has collapsed from £10,000 per year (2000) to £6,000 per year (2024), while debt has tripled from £20,000 to £60,000. Only STEM, medicine, law, and economics degrees have positive ROI — humanities, arts, and social sciences degrees are financially worthless for most students. Apprenticeships offer better outcomes: earn while you learn, no debt, higher employment rates, and equivalent earnings by age 30. But only 5% of school leavers take apprenticeships, because we have created a culture where university is the default and everything else is failure. It is time to stop lying. University is not worth it for most people, and we need to admit it.
50% of graduates work in non-graduate jobs 5 years after graduation (ONS, 2024):
These jobs do not require a degree. A 22-year-old graduate with £60,000 debt earns the same as an 18-year-old school leaver with no debt.
Median graduate salary (5 years after graduation): £30,000 (IFS, 2024)
But this hides huge variation:
Humanities and arts graduates earn less than the national median wage (£33,000), and less than many non-graduates (plumbers £35,000, electricians £38,000, software developers £40,000).
The graduate premium (extra earnings from a degree) has collapsed:
Over a 40-year career, the graduate premium is £240,000 (£6,000 × 40 years). But student debt is £60,000, and most graduates repay £30,000–£40,000 over 40 years before write-off.
So the net benefit is £200,000–£210,000 (£240,000 - £30,000–£40,000 repayments). But this is the average — for humanities and arts graduates, the net benefit is zero or negative.
Average student debt (3-year degree): £60,000
Most graduates (60–70%) will never repay in full. The average graduate repays £30,000–£40,000 over 40 years, then £20,000–£30,000 is written off.
But even though most graduates never repay in full, the debt still affects their lives:
In 1990, 15% of young people went to university. In 2024, 50% go to university.
This has caused degree inflation — a degree is now the minimum requirement for jobs that previously did not require one (admin, retail management, marketing assistant).
But the supply of graduate jobs has not kept up with the supply of graduates. So 50% of graduates work in non-graduate jobs.
The expansion of higher education has created low-quality degrees at low-quality universities:
These degrees are financially worthless — they do not lead to graduate jobs, and they saddle students with £60,000 debt.
Universities are businesses that maximise revenue by recruiting as many students as possible, regardless of whether the degree is valuable.
Universities spend £1 billion per year on marketing (glossy brochures, open days, social media ads) to recruit students. They do not care if the degree leads to a job — they care about bums on seats.
There are not enough graduate jobs for 50% of young people. The graduate job market is saturated, so graduates compete for non-graduate jobs, pushing out non-graduates.
This is a zero-sum game — more graduates does not create more graduate jobs, it just devalues degrees.
Apprenticeships offer better outcomes than university for most people:
But only 5% of school leavers take apprenticeships, because we have created a culture where university is the default and everything else is failure.
Not all degrees are worthless. STEM, medicine, law, and economics degrees have positive ROI:
But these degrees are the exception, not the rule. Most students study humanities, arts, or social sciences, which have zero or negative ROI.
Apprenticeships are a better route for most young people:
Because we have created a culture where university is the default and everything else is failure:
Only 5% of school leavers take apprenticeships, compared to 50% who go to university.
The 50% target (introduced by Tony Blair in 1999) was a mistake. Not everyone needs a degree, and pushing 50% of young people into university has created:
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