It pays to study

There has been no erosion of the financial benefit of a degree despite the massive increase in graduates over the past 15 years, a new report from Universities UK concludes.

The report shows that gross additional lifetime earnings are now about Pounds 160,000 or 20-25 per cent more for individuals with a higher education qualification than for those not studying beyond A levels.

But there is wide variation across different degree subjects. The lifetime earnings premium is £340,000 for medicine and dentistry, compared with £51,549 for the humanities and £34,949 for the arts.

Men from lower socioeconomic backgrounds get the greatest financial benefit from completing a degree.