This Is Why

Is a degree worth it?

Aug 13, 2025 · 15 min · 15.2 MB
0:00-15:51

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It’s results time for 700,000 A-level and T-level students. It’ll mean final decisions about their future – and whether university is the best option for their finances and their career. 
 
With the huge cost of a three or four-year course, squeezed graduate incomes and fast changes to the job market due to AI, is a degree worth it? 
 
Niall Paterson speaks to business and economics correspondent Paul Kelso about whether the cost of a degree outweighs its reward and just what has changed since Tony Blair vowed to get 50% of school-leavers going to university in 1999.  

Producer: Emily Hulme  
Editor: Paul Stanworth