University of regret? One in four students would go back and change their degree

Research among 2,000+ students reveals the perceptions vs. reality of campus life and raises questions over chosen degrees

Given the chance, would you turn back time and change the degree you studied?

Increasing costs and greater scrutiny over the value of degrees has left current students in the UK divided on the matter, with more than one in four (27%) wanting to go back and choose a different subject.

Accepting the total population of students at higher education institutions in the UK, that equates to a massive 625,000 seeking more from what they’ve studied. 

The new research comes from Campus Society, the UK’s largest social network for students, which polled over 2,000 of its members.

It found the key reasons students wanted to change their degree; with over a third (35%) admitting the degree they chose wasn’t what they thought it would be, 32% stating they need a different qualification to apply for the job they want, and almost a quarter (21%) believing they could get better value for money with a different course.

This sense of getting more value from university extends beyond the choice of degree.  Fifty-nine per cent of respondents wish they’d participated in more clubs and societies, while 62% want a better way to connect with course mates outside of seminars and lectures. Fifty-seven per cent, meanwhile, want to belong to a more active online community of people with the same interests.

Rashid Ajami, CEO and Founder of Campus Society says:

“The UK’s higher education system offers so much value to so many, but there’s always room to deliver even more. The challenge and opportunity is equipping tomorrow’s generation with robust, qualitative insights and information to ensure they can make as informed choices as possible. Doing so will empower them to take greater control of their student experience and subsequent professional careers, so they keep looking forward with opportunity rather than backwards with regret.”

In addition, the study highlighted that information and awareness were identified as barriers to overcome to help students get the most out of their university experience. The vast majority of respondents (70%) think clubs and societies should market their activities more on social media networks, for example, while 60% think Facebook is not an effective enough platform for finding information on university courses.

About the survey: 2,200 students from Campus Society’s platform participated in this survey between March and April 2019.

About Campus Society: The UK’s leading social network for university students. Launched in 2016, it connects new university students with peers who share common interests. Most recently, the company has launched Campus Books offering every course textbook in the UK through the Campus Books app available on iOS and Android.

Campus Society is owned and operated by Connectt, a business that provides any brand, organisation and individual the ability to deliver branded social networking solutions for customers, employees, remote business partners, followers or any group that is aligned around a common interest area. With Connectt, organisations no longer need to subject their social capital to third parties that control what users see and do. They can integrate the features that matter to drive engagement, purchase, retention, and loyalty.