Spending watchdog looks at whether investment can be justified

IS going money?

There are around two million students in higher education at any time. And on average, they each rack up debts of £50,000.

In return, they get a degree. And this is meant to allow them to get a better job and earn a higher salary.

But the difference a degree makes to your life can vary wildly depending on the university you attended and the course you studied.

In some cases, it might have no to university a waste of impact on your future salary at all.

Universities are in the spotlight following the publication of a major report by the National Audit Office (NAO), the nation’s official spending watchdog, which warns that some students are getting a poor deal.

And MPs are concerned. The Commons Education Committee has launched an inquiry into universities offer value for money – or not.

Getting a degree certainly can be a good investment, according to the NAO. It reports that graduates earn, on average, 42% more than non-graduates. But the benefits vary dramatically depending on what you study and which university you attend.

Choose the wrong course and insti- tution and you could find yourself no better off than someone who didn’t go to university.

At the same time, students who complete a three-year course have an average debt of £50,000 – though they are likely to pay back only £30,000 of it.

In theory, students are meant to make an informed choice about whether it’s worth going to university or not.

But the NAO says it’s foolish to expect young people aged 15 to 18 – when decisions about university tend to be made – to make this decision when they receive so little guidance.

Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: “Young people are taking out substantial loans to pay for courses without much effective help and advice, and the institutions concerned are under very little competitive pressure to provide best value.”

A detailed investigation by the Institute from Fiscal Studies found that if you complete a degree in creative arts, 10 years later you’re likely to be earning roughly the same as people who didn’t go to university at all.

But men who studied a social science course were earning £4,200 a year more on average, while women were earning £4,900 a year more.

Economics graduates earned £13,200 a year more, if they were men, and £17,800 a year more if they were women.

And graduates of medicine earned £24,100 a year more, for men, or £23.200 a year more for women.

Going to the right university helps too.

Even when you take into account other factors, such as the fact that top universities tend to attract richer students, who have all sorts of other advantages, going to a university which requires high A-level grades to get in can boost your earnings by £14,000 a year for men, or £9,000 a year for women, compared to attending a university which requires lower grades.

The Commons Education Committee, a cross-party group of MPs which includes Gateshead MP Ian Mearns, has launched an inquiry into whether