Oversaturated graduate job markets, tuition fees set to rise, and lower graduate salaries have led to many asking the one question students don’t want to hear: what is the point of university? So frequently posed by estranged family members at annual gatherings, this is a question that both students and those freshly graduated are forced to grapple with. Whilst the economic benefits of university are waning, I think university is an experience to be cherished and one that should be encouraged.
The value of higher education goes beyond the individual. A thriving higher education system contributes to a just, healthy, and harmonious society. Graduates are more likely to be civically engaged, participating in politics, community and volunteering programmes to a greater degree. This contributes to a healthy democracy, fuelled by willing and engaged voters. The university system has created generations of critical thinkers who challenge the political system in vital ways. Universities have created the innovators and the revolutionaries who keep the wheels of our society rolling towards common goals.
University allows young people to move beyond the parochial limits of their hometowns and cities. It affords students the opportunity to socialise with people from different ethnic and class backgrounds; it allows students to form friendships with different genders and exposes them to different moral, political and religious perspectives. All of this contributes to caring, interesting, and well-rounded individuals who positively contribute to our communities.
Dropout rates in the UK are rising. University is hard and it comes with its challenges. In return for all it may take, university offers complete freedom in every sphere of one’s life. It offers the freedom to reject people’s preconceptions and to redefine who you are. It offers the freedom to change how you dress, your hair, your name. It offers the freedom to alter one’s thoughts, views and behaviours. To many young people, it is the first opportunity to discover yourself and to choose your own path. It comes with its challenges, but for those that can weather the storm, university brings a freedom like nothing else can.
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