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Third of people say uni degree not worth it, as student loan inquiry begins

ended 02. June 2026

An inquiry by MPs into the student loan system in England has begun, with evidence from student organisations and experts.

The National Union of Students (NUS) said the inquiry should look at the graduate earnings repayment threshold and interest rates.

But the government said the current student loan system protected lower-earning graduates, with repayments linked to earnings and loans written off at the end of their term.

New research published separately suggests a third of people now think a university degree isn't worth the time and money.

The British Social Attitudes survey has tracked public opinion over key issues, including university education, for decades.

Their research, published on Tuesday, found that 34% of people in 2025 agreed a university education "just isn't worth the amount of time and money" - up from 14% in 2005.

This is the highest level of concern about the value of a degree for 20 years.

At the same time, there has been a decline in those who believe going to university leaves graduates "a lot better off" in the long run, down from 50% in 2005 to 36% in 2025.

  • Is it worth it to go to uni and get into mountains of debt?
  • Are you surprised the percentage of people who do not believe it is worth it has increased?
  • Is an inquiry needed?

Responses this afternoon.

6 responses from the Newspage community

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Nouran Moustafa
Practice Principal & IFA at Roxton Wealth
University is still worth it for some people, but the days of pretending every degree is automatically a golden ticket are over. A degree has to be judged like any major financial decision: cost, career route, earning potential, personal ambition and the alternatives available.
I am not surprised confidence has fallen. Students are being asked to take on huge debt while the graduate job market feels more uncertain, rents are high, and many entry-level roles no longer give the same clear progression.
The inquiry is needed, but it must be honest. The student loan system is called a loan, behaves partly like a graduate tax, and is explained badly to young people making one of the biggest decisions of their lives.
We need better financial education before university, stronger vocational routes, clearer data on graduate outcomes by course, and a system that does not punish ambition. The question should not be “uni or no uni?” It should be “which route gives this young person the best future
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Aaron Strutt
Product and Communications Director at Trinity Financial
The level of debt most students take on when they go to university or study for a degree is huge, and it follows them around for decades. In the mortgage and finance industries, many qualified advisers do not have a degree but hold industry-specific qualifications. There are also lots of apprentices learning their trade and going on to have successful careers.

As a country, we clearly need educated people in specialist roles, but at the moment, many of them have to accumulate huge debts and then pay high interest rates. This debt is also taken into consideration for mortgage affordability purposes, meaning the amount graduates can borrow when they buy a home is reduced. It is not suprising younger people are being put off going into higher education.
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Martin Rayner
Financial Adviser at Compton Financial Services
It is no surprise that more people are questioning whether university is worth the cost. Yesterday we advised two first-time buyers. One had an £81,000 student loan and the other £40,000. These loans will never be repaid. That helps no-one.

The problem is that we have spent years treating university as the default option. For some careers a degree is absolutely worth it and remains the best route into a well-paid profession. For others, the financial return is far less clear and alternative routes such as apprenticeships may make more sense. Young people need honest information before taking on decades of repayments.

An inquiry is needed because we have graduate unemployment alongside major shortages of skilled tradespeople. We are encouraging more people into higher education while employers struggle to recruit in sectors where demand is highest. That raises important questions about whether the system is delivering value for students, taxpayers and the wider economy.
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Antonia Medlicott
Founder & MD at Investing Insiders
This inquiry is long overdue. The student loan system has been reformed repeatedly without anyone stepping back to ask the important question: Should every young person go to university in the first place?

The conversation we are not having is about return on investment. A degree in a subject with poor graduate employment outcomes, funded by £50,000 or more of debt, is not a good financial decision. For too many students, it is an expensive way of delaying adulthood, and there are better, lower-cost options available.

Apprenticeships need to be a genuine first option for many. And we should be talking about the value of work experience, including overseas voluntary work, which could help address the growing concern of the number of NEET youths in the UK.

Kids need practical employment skills. Not an expensive degree in a subject that won't result in a job. Of course, there will always be professions where a degree is necessary.
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Kate Underwood
Founder & Chief People Strategist at Kate Underwood HR and Training
For two decades, we sold young people one dream: rack up debt, get a degree, win at life. A third now call it out, and small business owners have known the maths was off for years. As an HR professional and small business champion, here's the truth from the shop floor: too many universities aren't equipping students for the real world, yet some graduates walk in with an entitlement towards those who've been working and learning since they left school. That's so wrong. People learn in different ways. University is right for certain professions - medicine, law, engineering - but learning on the job is right for others. We have to quit treating a degree as elite for every role and start making all pathways equal. Small firms are crying out for talent, yet we still funnel every bright kid towards a campus instead of an apprenticeship that pays from day one. That's a skills gap we're creating on purpose. An inquiry? Yes, but ask the real question: why do we value paper over people?
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Colette Mason
AI Ethics Consultant at Clever Clogs AI
The jobs market has quietly moved the goalposts. Knowledge work was the pitch. AI is now eating knowledge work. Graduate schemes that existed five years ago are contracting. The analytical, administrative, and writing-adjacent roles that justified the debt are exactly where AI displacement is landing first.

The faceless application process makes it worse. You used to be able to walk a CV in, read a room, make an impression. Now you submit into a void, get screened by software that was never told what a person actually looks like, and hear nothing.

This is a structural signal that the labour market values speed and compliance over judgment and character. A degree used to buy you into the room. It no longer guarantees the room exists.

An inquiry into loan mechanics while the underlying value proposition collapses is the institutional equivalent of polishing the furniture while the house burns. The money is better spent on a deposit on a home or your own tech stack for AI.