It pays to be a graduate
Being a student is tough these days: with the prospect of paying back large loans for tuition fees and living expenses, fewer can justify sleeping late and missing lectures, spending too much on drinking sessions or putting fun ahead of getting the most out of their substantial investment. And with a general rise in the cost of living and a stretching of family budgets, many are finding that the Bank of Mum and Dad isn’t as generous as it used to be. But students needn’t be put off – they just to be sensible about their banking.
Working to study
Many of today’s students are earners as well as spenders, taking regular jobs to supplement their loans. Whether working the tills at the local supermarket, pulling pints in a bar, Saturday shifts in High Street stores or temping in a call centre between lectures, students are having to forgo the lie-ins and late nights debating the meaning of life in favour of maintaining a steady cash-flow.
Students also have to be canny about their consumer habits: even those not prepared to live on instant noodles and baked beans are learning to be frugal and buy supermarket own-brand products, shop at markets and discount stores, and go easy on life’s little luxuries. They must also learn how to manage their money effectively.
Managing student accounts is less problematic for those who have already gained experience of basic bank accounts and budgeting for the things they want to buy – savvy parents set up bank accounts for children, which can prepare them for student life.
The pay-off
It’s all worth it in the end: quite apart from their intellectual enrichment, graduates continue to earn more than people without degrees. According to David Willett’s comments on ‘The Push National Student Debt Survey 2010’ (http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/Detail.aspx?ReleaseID=414982&NewsAreaID=2, August 2010), graduates may earn an estimated £100,000 more across their working lives than those leaving education with just A-levels.
The raising of tuition fee costs has also led to students carefully choosing degree courses which will take them into higher-earning occupations. Professions which offer graduate salaries of around £24,000-plus include social work, engineering, economics and veterinary medicine, with human medicine and dentistry topping the table at £29,000 and £30,000 for the newly-qualified, according to figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/careers/what-do-graduates-earn/, April 2011). Top starting salaries can also be found in law (£36,500), investment banking (£35,000), mainstream banking (£28,500), business consultancy (£26,750), the consumer goods industry (£26,500) and IT and telecoms (£25,500), reported a 2010 survey by the Association of Graduate Recruiters. The average starting salary for graduates was £25,000 in 2010 – a figure which has remained static since 2008, but which still compares favourably to the national average for people of all ages (£25,900, according to the latest figures from HM Revenue and Customs) (http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/article-1709280/Best-paid-jobs-A-guide-UK-salaries-wages-2010.html, October 2011).
This article has been written for information and interest purposes only. The information contained within this article is the opinion of the author only, and should not be construed as advice or used to make financial decisions. Expert financial advice should always be sought and any links contained within this article are included for information purposes only.
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