Is University Worth it Anymore?

Is university worth it, or is university a scam?
How valuable is a degree, and what degree should I choose?

These are very important questions you must ask yourself when deciding whether or not you should go to university.

I’ve spoken to so many people about this topic and I break it all down in this video.

NOTE: this video is primarily for those in England, but some information I discuss applies to the US as well.

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ARE STUDENT LOANS WORTH IT?
I don’t think student debt should be a major concern – at least not if you are in England. Here’s how student loans work in England: you begin by choosing your repayment plan. Plans 1 & 2 will only have you paying 9% of your income that goes above the threshold (£25.72k) every month. The threshold is the amount of money you are expected to earn a year before you start paying back student loans. On an income of £40k you will only be repaying £1,285 a year. It’s not a lot, and it all gets written off after 30 years anyway. So what’s my biggest concern with going to university…?

WHAT DEGREE SHOULD I DO?
Choosing your degree is the most important factor in this debate. There are so many people that will choose a degree because of parental pressure, societal pressure, or pressure from their friends. They will choose a degree because it looked “fun”, or it seemed “interesting”, but a lot of people do not ask themselves: what career do I want to get into? And even more importantly: do I need this degree to get into a career?

SHOULD YOU TAKE A GAP YEAR?
One of my biggest solutions to not knowing whether or not you should go to university, and what degree you should pick is taking a gap year. I know it works slightly different in the US, but in England you are given the choice to take a year off after sixth form (otherwise known as a “gap year”). Take it.

WHAT SHOULD I DO IN A GAP YEAR?
A few of my recommendations are reading, getting a job, going to networking events, and travelling. Generally, you want to experiment and try different things. It’s important to see what you enjoy and are more inclined towards, which can aid you in making a decision on what career you want to get into. Once you know what career you would like to go down, check to see if you need a degree to start working in that field. If you don’t, then it may be that going to university is not needed for you to get a job.

WHAT IS THE VALUE OF A DEGREE?
Grade inflation is a big problem that universities are tying to tackle. More than half of university students are leaving with a first, or a 2:1. To add to that, the student cap that once prevented universities from letting in as many students as they liked has now been removed. Removing the student cap has increased competition between universities, and now it’s become a major competition to get as many students in as possible.
This all becomes problematic when you look at how employable a degree makes you. The more graduates with top classifications there are, the less an employer can differentiate between who is truly the best, and who is not. My personal opinion is that a degree can get you a foot in the door for a job, but that is as far as it goes. The rest is up to how you perform in the interview.
I would even go as far as to say that some employers (depending on the career) prefer non-graduates, so that they are coming into the company with a ‘clean slate’ and can be moulded through the company and not already enter the job with pre—conceived ideas and notions on how that company may or may not function.

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All materials in these videos are used for educational purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement is intended. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of said material, please contact me via my email in the "about" page on my channel.

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Copyright © James Jani 2020

[JamesJani]

Follow me for behind the scenes, teasers, and anything in-between:

[pureholyz]

A degree is like a passport which opens up opportunities. It's not a ticket to Success. Many students get the wrong idea thinking that getting a degree is the final goal. It's just the beginning.

[OwolabbyAzeez]

You are on the path to some serious YouTube growth. Glad to be here from the Genesis. 🤧💯🔥

[Lemonfreak]

“University is a business, a degree is a consumer product”

What a way to look at it

[dixie]

TAKE A GAP YEAR! For the love god listen to this guy. I made the mistake of going to uni right after. Ended up dropping out and working for 4 years, shitty jobs granted, but I learned so much about myself and becoming an adult. When I did decide to study again, I knew what I wanted, I had a plan and I was motivated.

[pauls]

I can say now, 25 years later, that the most formative experience in my life was not the years I spent at Uni, but the three years I spent backpacking (&working) around the world. It taught me about friendship. About women. About entrepreneurship. About surviving adversity. About adapting. It was a degree with a major in “character building”. 😉

[teejay]

YOUNG PEOPLE 16-18 who have the privilege of viewing this video in your youth, LISTEN to this guy. I wish I had this objective guidance when I was a clueless 17 year old. I would have done a cadetship, or apprenticeship that paid me to get qualified. I spent several thousands to reference Harvard and write useless essays

[russlea]

"The school system is outdated globally. The Internet made it outdated because information is a commodity and the school system was built on the memorization of information." ~ Gary Vaynerchuk

[keiththomson]

I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well.

[hitpoints]

As a college grad, I have done a lot of contemplation with what I would have done instead of hopping right into college right away. Ultimately, I concluded that I don't regret going to college. I regret not preparing myself for success afterward (and that is its own long story by itself, which is why a big focus of what I want to do with my own channel is to be living proof I can salvage my own life). With that said, I would urge a lot of would-be college students to think twice about college. It's not for everyone. Otherwise, you end up with big debt for no reason.

[anonymous.]

I am a university student myself but i learn more from youtube and internet lol.

[xhixhij]

Exactly one year ago you started this channel and posted this first video. Congratulations James on reaching this milestone with 600K subscribers! Your dedication and hard work shines through and through. Keep being this wonderful human being and authentic. Your audience will follow you all the way to becoming the next generation Netflix of YouTube. Salute!

[raikey]

Graduating in a university these days is pretty much just a boost of self-confidence for me whether during a job interview or interacting with other people. It won't guarantee that you'll get a job easily/right away even if you're a college graduate these days especially if you're just a newly graduate. Most companies are looking for a higher position staff/years of experience and mostly hire newly graduates if they are cutting their budget. A lot of competitions with new graduates coming every year. The measurement of success these days is how much your net worth is and not how high your masteral degree is.

[priyankarmajumder]

I like how you keep calm and speak to the point with low voice. That's real bossy with great personality.

[januari]

That is quite amazing. I hope young people like me can see this video before it's too late for them. I am in a period of indecisiveness and this is my senior year. Thank you, James Jani

[yamabushi]

I went to school, got abysmal grades, joined the army for 5 years, bummed around in various crap jobs, taught guitar for a bit and in time fell into a real career. I'm now a senior network architect for an ISP and have been doing very nicely for years. There's more than one route up the mountain.

[timspinks]

Really high level storytelling here! Brilliant pacing, suspense and rhythm. Excellent clarity, concision and compression of complex ideas. You can tell he knows what he's talking about, because he breaks it down so simply. He's either a natural, or had a lot practice - or both!

[everydaynerd]

As an aspiring content creator, I'm jealous of your incredible success, however, as a regular guy AND as a content creator, I truly appreciate your content and the quality that you make sure it has.

[dolliedreams]

Awesome advice - after 2 years of college, I left - and I feel like that's when I really started learning. Now, after more than 30 years of what feels like cramming for finals, I'm pretty happy with the state of my education and our entrepreneurial life. :) Keep up the videos - they're great!

[themoddingprodigy]

One of the biggest problem, is that the university courses, of course not all of them, are outdated, and the syllabus just doesn't work in real life, so the companies hiring you need to train you anyways and 80% of what you learn at uni turns out to be useless. I am saying this after spending 5 years at college and university. One should really find out what they're good at and why, before proceeding.