Questions raised over value of a degree

Graduate earnings for men at more than one in 10 universities and colleges were lower than for non-graduates, according to a new study that analysed student loans and tax data for England.

According to the Institute of Fiscal Studies, median earnings for men in England who attended 23 of 168 institutions were lower than for non-graduates. Earnings for graduate women were worse at nine of 166 institutions.

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Even after accounting for university studied at and subject taken, graduates from richer families earned about 10 per cent more than the rest, a gap that gets wider at the very top of the income ladder.

The highest-earning 10 per cent of male graduates from richer backgrounds earned about 20 per cent more than the highest earning 10 per cent from poorer backgrounds. The highest-earning women graduates earned 14 per cent more.

Lee Elliot Major, chief executive of the Sutton Trust, a group that promotes social mobility, said the study “helps explain why social mobility remains poor in the UK, despite a big expansion in higher education”.

“Students from better-off backgrounds are more likely to go to universities and take subjects with better career prospects,” he said.

“But even allowing for these choices, they still earn more which suggests that we all need to redouble efforts to improve the networks available to undergraduates, their access to internships and their access to skills valued by employers.”

Read his full report here (£)