A survey conducted by the UK Youth Parliament has found 36% of young people are choosing courses because they are cheap or because they can live at home while they attend.

In addition, 64% say that the current UK recession will affect their ability to finance their time at university, with most citing reasons of parental job losses, restricted family income and difficulties in finding part time jobs.

The figures are revealed as the UK Youth Parliament calls for the abolition of tuition fees.

James Greenhalgh, organisation member, said: “The current economic climate, coupled with crippling tuition fees is disastrous for the future of higher education. Students should feel able to choose the courses or universities that they are best suited to, not feel forced into opting for bargain bucket courses to save money.

“Many students and prospective students are going to struggle even more as a result of the recession. Just like everyone else, their incomes will be squeezed and things are going to be tough; support is being offered to pensioners, to business, the banks, to those struggling with mortgages – pretty much everyone. But not students.”

The survey also found that 95% of young people oppose the government lifting the current cap on university tuition fees.

David Blunkett MP said: “Whilst it’s clear that no government is going to pull the financial plug on the university sector by simply abolishing fees, it would at this time of global financial downturn be unacceptable to lift the cap and have a free-for-all across universities.”

Further information: UK Youth Parliament

The Children’s Mutual is calling for a change in the way society thinks about funding higher education.

With news that 42 per cent of this year’s undergraduates plan to work part-time in a bid to afford higher education, and with 78 per cent of parents saying they think that the credit crunch will make it harder for them to fund their children through university, the organisation says university fees should be saved for from early childhood.

David White, Chief Executive of The Children’s Mutual, said: “It is becoming increasingly apparent that we need a sea change in the way that many parents and their children fund university. For those approaching higher education in the next few years the Government has a clear student finance package in place but for parents of younger children, one way to stave off the financial nightmares of the current university generation could be to start saving now.”

The Children’s Mutual says that many young people show a better awareness of the need for financial planning than their parents. Nearly a third of youngsters aged 11 to 18 are putting money aside for higher education. A third of parents realise they are not saving enough for their children’s futures.

Mr White said: “It is great to see that today’s teenagers are aware of the costs involved with going to university and are taking steps independently to try and avoid the high levels of debt that are now common amongst graduates. But the average cost of three years at university now sits at £40,400 – a huge amount of money for any teenager to find.”

Currently four times more teenagers are heading to university than 30 years ago, but according to The Children’s Mutual, many young people and their families are only just starting to realise the financial implications of their higher education aspirations. The average graduate leaves university with a £17,500 debt and according to the report, “little hope of paying it off.”

The report also uncovers that unlike their younger siblings who are saving for the future, many over 18s hadn’t thought it necessary to save for university and think that student debt is “normal” and that “a ‘culture of debt’ is accepted as a normal part of life.” This is despite the consensus among these young adults being that “having such large debts from student loans made it easier to fall into further debt.”

The research, commissioned by The Children’s Mutual and compiled by the Social Issues Research Centre (SIRC), further found that young men are more likely than young women to be saving for university (32 per cent versus 28 per cent).

Notes for student media editors
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The Children’s Mutual is the choice of 1 in 5 parents for their child’s Child Trust Fund (CTF) account and named the UK’s Best CTF Provider 2006 and 2007.

David White, Chief Executive of The Children’s Mutual, is available for comment. Please call Elspeth Rothwell on +44(0)20-7781-2366 or visit the website: http://www.thechildrensmutual.co.uk