When he originally came to power, Tony Blair proudly announced his party’s mantra was “Education, Education, Education�. A praiseworthy enough focus and seemingly not an area we would couple alongside the horrors of frustration and increasing personal debt. But over the years, as greater numbers of institutions have gained university status, and student loans have become easily available to everyone, schools have encouraged many more young people to go for degrees without actually pointing out the cost.

It’s not in question that we need a more highly educated society, but is everyone actually receiving the best advice? Let’s face it; it isn’t a difficult sell to promote to a young adult to leave the family home and live with mates, not concern themselves about obtaining a job for several years and get discounted beer at the student union bar. A over simplified interpretation perhaps – naturally there’s a spot of lectures to go to, and a degree of juggling to keep afloat, then the rewards will be worth it in years to come. But is that really so? For a great deal of families, the real price of university education can go on for a long period after graduation, both in social and financial terms.

Student Loans (the best method of borrowing for students at university), tuition fees, accommodation and general costs of living over the course duration can set you back well into five figures – without any guarantee of work. It’s not a funny joke that young people with great ambitions too often become back-at-home twenty-somethings who haven’t even conquered their first job. Not only do mums and dads still have to support them financially, but unemployed adult children who’d previously flown the nest can significantly cramp their style!

A university education can be a fulfilling experience for young people, and is the only way for many of our professions. But we should know that in some disciplines, there are other, often more advanced alternatives. In the world of Information Technology, employers are desperate for commercially qualified IT professionals. Those who’ve been to University frequently have to supplement their IT training skills to be ready for work and fare in the job market against Microsoft, CompTIA or Cisco professionals. The sorry thing is they might have saved themselves three years and not had a really large debt if they’d studied with a distance learning computer training provider. Possibly the beer in the college bar isn’t quite so cheap after all – certainly the bank of mum and dad would be a lot less depleted, and there’d probably 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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