Students reap financial rewards from top degrees

Recent research has revealed that graduates from top UK universities go on to earn significantly more than those from lower ranking institutions.

The research conducted at London School of Economics (LSE) shows graduates from the top-ranked quarter of universities can expect to earn up to 16 per cent more than those with an equivalent degree from the bottom quarter. Incomes for graduates from the second quarter are, on average, seven per cent higher.

The report concludes that “those who go to the top universities should be prepared to contribute more towards the cost of their education than most students.”

However, this has led to concerns that poorer students could effectively be financially barred from attending top universities.

Wes Streeting, president of the National Union of Students, said: “The NUS believes that if graduates are to contribute to the cost of higher education, they must do so in a way that is progressively linked to actual future earnings, rather than to a notional and, therefore, inaccurate course price based on hypothetical average earnings."

Despite projected higher graduate earning, many graduates now struggle to secure graduate-level employment. This is particularly true of graduates from former polytechnics.

Francis Green, professor of economics at the University of Kent, has researched the phenomenon and recently stated: “If you are coming into university with not very good qualifications and do an arts degree at a low-ranked university, you are not really doing yourself any favours.”

According to the Confederation of British Industry there are currently 10.1 million graduates in the UK but only 9 million graduate level jobs. Graduates in non-graduate level jobs are, on average, 40 per cent worse off than those in graduate level employment.

The government is set to review university funding next year as some universities, including Oxford, have begun calling for the £3,000 per year cap on fees to be lifted.

Scottish students studying in Scotland would be unaffected by any decision, although changes would apply to students from abroad and elsewhere in the UK.

Education is an area of policy devolved to the Scottish Parliament; last year the Scottish Government scrapped the £2,000 graduate endowment previously paid by students on the completion of a degree.

According to The Times Good University Guide, only one of Edinburgh’s universities, the University of Edinburgh, is in the top quarter of UK institutions. Amongst the 133 institutions listed Heriot-Watt, Napier and Queen Margaret are ranked 47th, 64th and 68th respectively.