Well ...

... I came out with a degree in History and a Masters in Literature and Film.

The reason why I wanted to stick my over-sized oar into this debate was because below, the debate seemed to be focused purely on money, and particularly how much money could be earned immediately after leaving university - which, for a lot of people, really isn't what life is about.

In my case, I'm still on a pretty low-income job, but my university studies have allowed me to make headway in freelance journalism on subjects I'm really interested in, which will likely lead to a job that is a) well-paid and b) very stimulating, but in this country it takes a long time to get into any job in the arts that pays well and/or is interesting.

I couldn't do that without a university education, naturally, because university doesn't teach you what to think, it teaches you how to think - how to research, how to criticise, how to interact with people (or at least, it will if you want it to).

And, of course, I met plenty of fascinating people from all over the world, opened my mind to all sorts of new cultures that I wouldn't have experienced if I'd gone straight from A-Levels to a job, and took some half-decent drugs.

Posted By: Ottosson Foxtrot, Oct 10, 12:00:15