Hi.
I'm not sure which forum exactly my question belongs to, so I'm just posting a general question here.
How much is a degree generally worth? And how much would you be willing to spend on a degree?
Now, you can also go through my personal situation here and answer my query related to that if possible, which will be of great help.
I'm an international student hoping to study law. I've gotten into the University of Kent, Leicester and Lancaster in the UK. This is solely for a single degree (LLB) in law. My tuition fees would come up to about 40,000 pounds and my living costs would come to about 25,000 pounds for 3 years (I'm assuming), which would total about 65,000 pounds. My 1st choice is Leicester, since I've heard that it is a great university which compares to some of the Russell Group unis and a First from there would land me in a great position to secure a TC even if I'm an international student.
Now, I've also received an unconditional offer from the University of Sydney for a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws. This is a very well reputed uni on the global stage (it's 11th in the world for law and its faculty is 14th for commerce) and in Australia (it's the second best uni in Australia). This degree would be for 5 years. Now, the thing is that there is a pathway for exceptional students, which allows them to also apply for and complete a BCL in Oxford or LLM in Cambridge in the same amount of time. So if I am in the top 3-5% of my class, I'd complete an LLB, a BComm from the University of Sydney and a BCL/LLM in 5 years. Obviously, this does appeal to me.
However, the tuition costs themselves are extravagant. 20,000 pounds per year. Sydney is a very expensive place to live and the minimum living costs would be about 11-12,000 pounds per year. So totally, I would be spending about 150,000 pounds for my higher education for 3 degrees (assuming of course I get into Oxford/Cambridge).
This means a difference of 85,000 pounds between the UK and Australia. Obviously, this is a massive amount of money, but my parents would be sponsoring for my education. So I would not have to repay student loans or anything of that sort.
The interesting thing is that both degrees would only allow me to secure a TC or graduate program in Australia for approximately the same starting salary. About 35-40000 pounds.
I appreciate the fact that you read my whole post.
Now, how much would you say a postgraduate law degree from Oxford/Cambridge and a BComm from a very good university is worth?
Is it worth spending 2 years? (I think it is). I don't want to consider the opportunity costs of spending 2 years studying rather than working.
Is it worth spending an extra 85,000 pounds? Not just in terms of career progression, but also in terms of knowledge, experience gained etc. (I am not quite sure).
If it's not worth spending that much, how much would you say it is worth? An approximate valuation.
I would really appreciate your honest opinions on this.
Thank you so much for reading and replying!