Every year, it costs British students more and more to attend university. Students are graduating with larger and larger debts. So is a college degree really worth it? In 2006, the UK government started to allow universities in England and Wales to charge British students tuition fees. As a result, more than 80 percent of students in England and Wales now take out a student loan in order to go to university. They use the loan to pay for tuition fees and living expenses. Although the interest on student loans is quite low, it begins as soon as the student receives the loan. The average student in England and Wales now graduates from university with a debt of around PS12,000 (122,952 yuan). It means graduates have to struggle to pay rent on a flat, because they have to start paying back the student loan when they reach April after graduating. If you start to earn over PS15,000 (153,630 yuan) a year, the government takes repayments directly from your monthly salary. You might think that a person with a degree would find it easy to get a well-paid job. However, most people in "white collar jobs" seem to have a degree, so there is a lot of competition. Also, British companies tend to value work experience over . All of the above is beginning to make British people question whether a university degree is really worth the money. Even before the credit crisis started, the BBC stated: "The number of British students at UK universities has fallen for the first time in recent history, from 1.97 million in 2007 to 1.96 million last year." Meanwhile, the British universities offer more and more of the available places to richer international students rather than poorer British students. What does the future hold for British higher education? What might be the reason that the number of British students at UK universities falls?
It's harder and harder for them to get a degree. The credit crisis has great influnce on their families' income. College education costs them too much. The competition to become a "white collar" is too fiece.