The number of students enrolling at university has grown by a third in the past ten years, driven by the compelling public policy assumption that more education is good for individuals and for society as a whole.

While it is widely accepted that employers need more graduates in an increasingly knowledge-based economy, there are now concerns that this huge expansion of university education has led to an oversupply of certain types of graduates.

The average earnings premium conferred by an average degree is estimated by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the consultancy, to be £160,000 over a graduate's entire career. However, Dr Anna Vignoles, a reader in economics of education at the Institute of Education, says recent research suggests that the expansion of university education may have reduced the purely economic value of some degrees in the arts and humanities. Some graduates in these disciplines may earn no more than those who left education after A levels.

Overall, however, Vignoles emphasises that the huge “social benefits” of having a degree go well beyond the narrow confines of the labour market and enhance not only the lives of graduates but also those of their “co-workers, families and friends”.

Another study, from Sandra McNally at the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics, suggests that the gap in lifetime earnings between graduates from the most and least eminent universities can be as wide as 16 per cent. Of course, getting a degree is not just about increasing your earnings potential and placing a value on any degree is intrinsically difficult. It is virtually impossible, for example, to say with any conviction that a degree in nursing is “worth” less than one in accountancy simply because nurses earn less than financiers.

There are huge personal benefits to a university education in terms of learning styles, self-confidence, attitudes and friendships. And, as some of our articles on student life in this guide suggest, university life can also be tremendous fun. But what the research does suggest is that subject choice and the reputation of your university will count more heavily in future. This is just as true for the 10 per cent or so of students entering university through the clearing system, which offers those who missed their grades another chance to apply.

Edge, the education foundation, confirmed this with the publication of research this week indicating that 18,000 first and second year students (13 per cent) who entered university through clearing in the past two years are unhappy about their choice of course with 46,000 (33 per cent) saying they rushed their selection.

With the benefit of hindsight, a quarter of all students said if they had their time again they would make different plans. A tenth said they wish they had gone the vocational route and opted to do an apprenticeship.

The good news, however, is that the growth in university applications is continuing. Research this week from UUK, which represents the vice-chancellors, suggests that the introduction of top-up tuition fees of £3,000 a year in 2006-07 has not led to a fall in undergraduate applications. Indeed, according to UUK, a surprisingly high proportion of undergraduates in England - 25 per cent - are managing to pay their tuition fees upfront, without having recourse to student loans. This appears to be in the main part because parents and grandparents are helping with fees. For the remaining 75 per cent, who may have to rely on savings, student loans and bursaries, obtaining value for money from your degree will be more important than ever. That is where this guide comes in. For those of you entering clearing because your

A-level grades are not sufficient to get you onto your preferred course, there are sketches of universities that are active during clearing, with web links for you to check course vacancies.

The Times Good University Guide 2009 (published by HarperCollins and available at timesonline.co.uk/gug) has more detailed information about every institution, with tables showing how the universities compare in individual subjects.

If you have any questions about clearing, you can e-mail our experts, who will be answering queries online from now until Wednesday.

timesonline.co.uk/education

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