THE financial worth of a university degree is about '150,000 - a decrease as more people attend university, research has found.

A study carried out at Swansea University found that graduates will earn about '150,000 more over their working lifetimes than those who do not attend university.

Researchers said this contrasts to a figure of '400,000 claimed by the Government.

Findings showed that women with a degree earn about '158,000 more than those without, while men with the qualification earn around '142,000 more than non-graduates.

Some arts graduates end up earning less than those without a degree, while degrees producing the highest returns tend to be in analytical subjects such as maths, computing, engineering and medically-related courses.

The study was carried out by Dr Nigel O'Leary and Professor Peter Sloane. It found an increased demand for graduate jobs over the past decade or so was now being outstripped by supply.

Dr O'Leary said: "This contrasts to the Government line - in the debate on top-up fees the figure they were quoting was '400,000.

Reduced

"What graduates can expect to earn has been reduced substantially."

But despite a reduction in the figure people could expect to earn, the research showed that as a financial investment, a degree was still worthwhile.

Dr O'Leary said: "Even though the return has certainly declined from 10, 20 or 30 years ago, they still reap a worthwhile investment."

He added that students could expect to pay about '40,000 obtaining their degrees.

The study compared graduates with people who had left education with at least a couple of A Levels, so that the abilities of those analysed would be similar.

A Department for Education and Skills spokesman said the '400,000 figure quoted during debate on tuition fees and the estimates used in the Swansea study "are calculated on a completely different basis - it is therefore misleading to compare them directly.

"It would be unwise to comment further until we have the fuller picture that the DfES commissioned Moving On study will give when it reports in due course."

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