What about postgrads?
As the number of undergraduates has risen over the past fifteen years, so has the number of postgrads. And it’s not just a simple percentage game.
As more people realise the career benefits of having a degree, they rightly assume there are even greater benefits if you distinguish yourself further by having more than one degree, a masters or better yet a doctorate or PhD. Postgrads should also assume that being a student for even longer means having a low cash flow for even longer. While your friends may be buying their first pad and hanging fancypants (or Ikea) pictures on the walls, you'll still be renting student hovels and buying Che Guevara posters.
A higher proportion of graduates in the UK go on to further training than almost anywhere else in the world, second only to Denmark.
Unfortunately, the growing number of people wanting to take up postgrad studies puts more pressure on the sources of funding that support it. New funding possibilities have sprung up, but just as one spring in the Sahara wouldn't turn the desert green, there's still not enough to make life easy.
Last updated on: 21 November 2008