Students who say 'no' to £50,000 of debt

Congratulations to all the A-level students who got the grades they need and are heading to university this autumn. But a growing band of young adults are spurning a conventional British university and pursuing other options, ranging from high-level apprenticeships through to scholarships and degrees from low-fee universities abroad.

The prospect of sinking £50,000 into debt, albeit funded through student loans, which don't have to be repaid until the graduate is earning a decent income, is deterring even top students from heading to a British university. Depressingly, four out of 10 students (43%) are not expected to have cleared their debts 30 years after graduation.

Other debts raked up during term time need to be paid back more urgently, such as overdrafts, credit cards and, in particular, payday loans. A survey by the National Union of Students last year found that more than 40,000 students had borrowed from payday lenders to make ends meet.

And there isn't even the guarantee of a good job at the end of it all. Almost half of recent graduates are currently working in positions that do not require a degree.

So what are the alternatives? We spoke to five young people about to embark on careers and courses both at home and abroad that won't leave them up to their eyeballs in debt.

Gemma Collins, 18
Gemma goes to Harvard with a £160,000 scholarship

Gemma Collins is leaving her home in Blackpool and her job in McDonald's, where she has worked for two years while studying for her A-levels, to start an undergraduate degree at Harvard in Massachusetts, ranked the third-best university in the world.

She has rejected places at a number of universities in England, including Cambridge. "Higher fees create a huge fear for low-income families, who don't like the idea of taking on so much debt. The scholarship means I can go to an American university and come out with no debt hanging over me."

Her exceptional predicted A-level grades – two A*s and three As – have secured her a generous scholarship worth $67,000 (around £40,000) a year, or £160,000 over four years. She got an A*, two As and two Bs.

"I'm from a single parent family with three other brothers and sisters. My mum didn't go to university and when I was young we didn't even talk about it as a possibility.

"Going to university in America is like a dream. I can't believe it. My friends are really excited for me."

Ash Smith, 18
Ash is a Lloyds Bank apprentice, earning £24,000 a year

Ash Smith from Cheltenham couldn't wait to enter the adult world of work. Instead of applying to university like his friends, he sent off an application for a position as an IT apprentice at Lloyds Bank. More than 1,600 people applied for one of the 40 positions available but he got through the interviews and examinations and was offered a place on the scheme; he started last December.

Ash always wanted to work in IT and believes getting first-hand experience is far better for his career than studying textbooks on campus. "Technology is a very fast-paced industry and I thought it would be better to get up-to-date knowledge while working within a company, rather than studying for a degree."

He earns about £24,000 a year working as an IT service assurance manager, essentially helping to keep the computers running and the ATMs dispensing cash. His apprenticeship lasts 12 months and he is assured a job at the end of it. He moved out of his family home to a flat-share in Greenwich, south-east London, which costs about £500 a month in rent. He spends another £500 a month on household bills and groceries.

However, Ash does plan to get a degree. Lloyds supports staff who want to continue their education, paying course fees and changing working hours to make time for study. Next September, he plans to do a BSc in information management for business. He says he did not apply for the apprenticeship with the intention of getting his employer to cover the £27,000 tuition fees, but it is a benefit. "I have friends going to university in London and the cost is astronomical. It really does put people off."

Claire Bailey, 18
Claire earns £7,000 a year as an apprentice dental nurse

Last month Claire Bailey started an apprenticeship with Solent NHS Trust as a dental nurse. She did not apply to university because she wanted to get on with her career and feared being lumbered with heavy student debts without the certainty of a job at the end of it.

"I considered doing a pharmacology degree but I sat down to work out the costs and the figures were overwhelming. At the end of your degree there is also no guarantee of getting a job."

The 18-year-old from Chichester, East Sussex earns £3.54 an hour and works 37.5 hours a week at the special care dental department of Havant Health centre, providing care for people with physical, medical or mental health conditions which make it difficult to get treatment from an ordinary dentist.

"Working as an apprentice in such a specialised field of dentistry has been a real eye-opener. It's an area which more people would not see until they're qualified," she says. She lives at home with her parents, paying £50 a month towards bills. She does not receive any other financial support.

She applied for her post through the London Apprenticeship Company. It includes one day of teaching each week and at the end of the two-year course she will be awarded a national diploma in dental nursing. She plans to continue studying to become a dental therapist, which would enable her to carry out many of the operations undertaken by a dentist. "The course will give me a fighting chance in my future career. I feel that experience at work will give me a head start."

Connor Deacon-Price, 18
Connor goes to Maastricht University, where the fees are £1,270 a year

English students can obtain a degree from a top university for a fraction of the price charged at home simply by jumping on a flight across the Channel. It costs €1,906 (£1,270) a year to study at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, or £7,000 less than the annual cost of most English degrees. More than 50% of students at Maastricht are from overseas and most of its courses are conducted in English.

Connor Deacon-Price is one of hundreds of British students starting at Maastricht this year. The 18-year-old, from Culford near Bury St Edmunds, is studying its science programme.

"My parents saw a news article on the BBC about studying in the Netherlands. When I first thought about it, I thought it would be ridiculous. Then I gave it some more thought and it started to make sense. There are definitely financial benefits. It's a lot cheaper than universities in Britain and it is ranked higher than Warwick and York in the world rankings."

When he applied, he was predicted to get three Bs, in physics, chemistry and biology, but there is no minimum entry requirement for the course. Instead, students must demonstrate a passion for the sciences and pass an interview held over Skype. In the event, he got BBC.

The UK government does not provide loans to students who study abroad, but Connor applied to the Dutch government for help. It offers tuition fee loans worth up to €1,906 a year. His parents are paying for his accommodation, which will cost about €450 a month. Students do not live in halls of residence but private rented accommodation.

He says: "We went on a website aimed at students. I don't know who is living there at the moment. Someone from Kiev is living in the room next door." His parents will also give him another €500 a month spending money.

"I've always wanted to go to university but higher tuition fees in Britain make it a lot harder and more difficult. Starting with a five-figure sum of debt when you start your career isn't an attractive prospect."

Jouja Maamri, 18
Jouja goes to Columbia University on a £108k scholarship

"Fees were definitely a factor", says Jouja Maamri, from Witham in Essex. She has rejected offers from Cambridge, Durham, Bath and King's College London, preferring to study at Barnard College at Columbia University in New York. Jouja was awarded a scholarship worth $60,000 (£37,000) a year. "Degrees in the UK are expensive. I will be coming out with no debts," she says.

Last summer Jouja attend a week-long summer school programme in the US run by the Sutton Trust, an educational charity which helps British students get into top-tier US universities. Through the scheme, she applied for a scholarship to study at Barnard from the US-UK Fulbright Commission, created in 1948 to foster mutual cultural understanding between Britain and the US.

The scholarship does not just pay for tuition fees but living costs as well, including rent, food and transport. Jouja will also receive an annual allowance of around $3,000 but she still plans to work while on campus to supplement her income.

She wants to work in the foreign office or become a journalist and hopes that studying abroad will help her stand apart from other graduates looking for work. "An international degree should be beneficial when I'm applying for jobs in the future."

(Source: TheGuardian)