When he first became Prime Minister, Mr Blair proudly stated that his party’s mantra was “Education, Education, Education�. A commendable enough focus and obviously not something one would think of associating with frustration and increasing personal debt. But as time has gone on, as more and more institutions have gained university status, and student loans have become easily available to all, schools have encouraged greater numbers of young people to go for higher education without actually spelling out the cost.

It’s not in question that we should have a more highly educated society, but is everyone actually receiving the best advice? Let’s be honest; it isn’t a difficult sell to promote to the youth of today to leave the family home and live with mates, not worry about obtaining a job for three or four years and get cheap beer at the university bar. A facile interpretation perhaps – of course there’s a spot of studying to be done, and a degree of juggling to keep afloat, then the rewards will be worth it eventually. But is that really so? For a lot of families, the real cost of university education lasts for a long time after graduation, both in financial and social terms.

The student loan system (the best method of lending for university undergraduates), fees for tuition, accommodation and general costs of living over the course duration can set you back well over thirty grand – without any guarantee of work. It’s ironic that young people with great ambitions too often are forced to return home because they can’t find work. Not only do mums and dads find themselves still stumping up the cash, but unemployed adult children in the house again can obviously get in the way!

Formal education can be a rewarding time for young people, and is the only path for many of our professions. But advisors and families ought to know that in some disciplines, there are other, sometimes more advanced alternatives. In the computer industry, employers are always searching for professionally qualified IT professionals. Those who’ve been to University regularly need to supplement their computer training skills to be industry ready and fare in the job market with Microsoft, CompTIA or Cisco professionals. The disappointing thing is they could have saved themselves three years and not been burdened with a really large debt had they gone straight to a global online computer training provider. Maybe alcohol in the student union bar isn’t such a great idea after all – certainly the family coffers would be a lot less exhausted, and there’d certainly be more seating left 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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