UK University Degree Value Varies by Subject, New Research Shows

Although a university degree is widely understood to lead to better earnings over a lifetime, new research suggests it can vary significantly depending on which course you do.

On average, graduates picking medicine can earn up to £400,000 more over their lifetime compared to non-graduates, research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) suggests.

Economics could also earn graduates significantly more but other subjects, including creative arts, philosophy and languages, offer little to negative financial return when compared to the earnings of someone similar without a degree, the research suggests.

The Department for Education (DfE) says it will cap numbers on courses with poorest returns, and will consult on the introduction of minimum English language requirements.

The data suggests the average graduate earns around £100,000 more over their lifetime than non-graduate counterparts, even after taxes and student loan repayments.

While there are significant financial benefits to undergraduate degrees on average, the data suggests a quarter of graduates can expect to be financially worse off over their lifetime as a result of going to university.

One in ten male graduates will potentially be more than £90,000 worse off than they otherwise would have been.

For students who continued in education post-16, but had relatively low GCSE grades, the data reflects that they can expect their lifetime take-home pay to be £53,000 higher on average than peers with similar grades who did not attend university.

However, among graduate men with low prior attainment, around four in 10 can expect to be worse-off financially over their lifetimes than if they had not gone to university.

The research investigates the lifetime financial returns to starting a full-time undergraduate degree at a UK university before the age of 21. The data was produced from analysis of a cohort of England-domiciled students who were born in the mid 1980s and took their GCSE exams in 2002.

More recent data on graduate outcomes was published by the DfE on the 2022-2023 tax year.

The DfE said the government had outlined plans to draw up options to limit the growth of some courses at some providers, where there are consistently "poor returns for students".

The government will begin a new consultation in the autumn to look at options for a minimum English language requirement for prospective undergrads to access student finance.

Minister for Skills Jacqui Smith said it was important that prospective undergrads "choose carefully".

"Don't walk into a degree by default," she says.

"Going to university and getting a degree is one of the most transformational things a young person can do. But it is not a universal guarantee of success and not all degrees are equal.

"As well as the variation by subject, too many franchised and poor-quality courses do not offer a good deal to young people, selling the dream then leaving students in the lurch."

Responding to the IFS report, Nick Harrison, chief executive of the Sutton Trust, a social mobility charity, said while university was not a guarantee of "financial success", it does remain the "most reliable route to upward mobility".

He added: "Most graduates continue to see big financial benefits over their lifetimes, and for young people from lower-income backgrounds those gains are often greatest."

However, he said the report raised an "uncomfortable question" regarding the career options young people have.

"If we are telling young people not to go to university, what exactly are we telling them to do instead? There is no shortage of criticism of so-called low-value degrees, but there is a chronic shortage of high-quality alternatives.

"Apprenticeships and technical pathways can offer great prospects for progression and success, but there are simply not enough of them available to be a viable alternative for lots of young people."

Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK, said it was important to highlight that some degree choices such as the arts, were "not motivated by money".

"We should recognise that these subjects also feed the creative industries, which are a huge economic driver for the UK.

"In an age of AI, we'll value the understanding of how human beings think and act more, not less, in the future."