By Will Charley, Comment Editor
The study also found that women benefit more economically from a degree than men.
A study conducted by the Department for Education in conjunction with the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has found that men who study economics at the University of Bristol will experience the greatest increase in earnings compared to male non-graduates.
Men who graduate with an economics degree from Bristol University can expect to earn 179 per cent more than the average man without a degree in the UK.
The study also found that on average women experience a greater increase in earnings by having a degree than men. Across the UK, female graduates earn 28 per cent more than women without degrees, whilst men earn only eight per cent more than males without degrees.
While a female graduate can expect to earn £6,700 more per year than a female non-graduate, the average male graduate will earn just £2,700 more per year compared to a male non-graduate.
Almost all universities and degrees were found to produce an increase in earnings for women. However, some courses produce a decrease in the earnings of male graduates compared to non-graduates. A third of male students receive a ‘negative or negligible impact’ on their earnings despite attending university.
Economics degree at University of Bristol is best choice for male earnershttps://t.co/4YV2B6BnPb pic.twitter.com/uV96le68lf
— BBC West Live (@BBCBristol) November 27, 2018
Women who study medicine, economics, maths, business and law will experience the highest increase in earnings compared to non-graduates. In particular, those who study medicine receive the highest increase in wages, earning 78 per cent more than women without a degree.
However, it is the specific combination of maths at the University of Oxford, which secures the highest female increase in earnings of 270 per cent.
Women who study the creative arts, philosophy and English will experience the least increase in earnings compared to female non-graduates.
For men, the difference is less stark and some degrees lead to a loss of earnings.
Men with a degree in the creative arts will earn 14 per cent less on average than those males who have not attended university.
The universities that produce the highest increase in earnings are the London School of Economics (LSE), Imperial College London, Kings College London, the School of Oriental and African Studies and Oxford University.
On top of these, it is the Universities of Bristol and Cambridge that produce some of the highest increases for male students.
Universities Minister Sam Gyimah has welcomed the study in bringing greater transparency to the “value” of degrees, enabling individuals to work out whether going to university is most beneficial for them.
Gyimah has also stated a desire to ‘shine a light’ on those degrees which seem to deliver a low rate of return for male graduates.
The study looked at the tax records of men and women who attended university in England, Scotland and Wales and compared their earnings to non-graduates at the age of 29 years old and sought to expose on the economic worthiness of some degrees.
Featured image: Epigram / James Cleaver
Do you think we should try to value degrees? Join the debate using the links below.
