War of the Worlds : Student Finance vs Life
Posted on 14. Jun, 2005 by Cashzilla in lifestyle
It is a worrying time for current and prospective students. With the increase in course fees, along with decreases in Government finacial support, the current graduates can expect huge debts when they enter the employment market, and hope they will get a high paid job to pay it off. The trouble is, that the time when you could walk out of the exam room into any kind of guaranteed job, let alone a prestige high paid career, are long gone. Students need to take responsibility for their own finances as the government is looking increasingly at making them finance themselves. Too many want to bury their heads in the sand and wait for a lottery win to make it all better. With over one trillion pounds of personal debt in the UK they need to realise that the, “It could be you!”, they pray for is actually going to be, “It is you!”, on the personal debt front.
Part of the problem is hopeful expectation, part is fear of controlling their own personal finances, and part is a lack of knowledge. The first one is difficult, and needs to be overcome by the individual. The other two however can both be overcome, by looking for help. Sources of information need to be made available and actively promoted and sought out by consumers. In Scotland it seems that this message is understood and being actively preached, not just for students but for all, by the government The Scottish Executive.
It’s not like the information isn’t there… there are lots of financial sites loaded with information: Moneynet for a start, or Moneysavingsexpert. The Financial Services Authority has its own finance help information for consumers.
As the saying goes, “Seek and yea shall find”. A hard lesson, but one that we must all currently embrace.
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Anonymous
Jun 14th, 2005
True, seems ironic that all through school I was encouraged to do my ‘A’ levels, go to university – get a good degree – to essentially get the chance to earn more money.
So I got my GCSEs and my ‘A’ levels and my degree and worked through weekends and holidays and I’m still worse off!
I think I need a new religion.