Arts graduates cost taxpayer the most – Study

A new analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies in the United Kingdom has found that degrees in ‘creative arts’ subjects – which include music, drama, fine art and design studies – are the most costly to the taxpayer, at £35,000 (US$46,000) each, since so few alumni earn enough money to pay back their student loan in full, writes Camilla Turner for The Telegraph.

Of the £9 billion that the government spends on higher education each year, more than £1 billion is on creative arts courses alone, where three-quarters of the total amount dished out in loans is picked up by the taxpayer. Economics degrees are the least costly to the public purse, with each one costing an average of £11,000 to the taxpayer, with just a quarter of the loans written off.

The report found that the higher education reforms of 2011 have “shifted the allocation of spending from high-cost degrees to those with the lowest graduate earnings”. Laura van der Erve, one of the report’s authors, said the findings raise “serious doubts” over whether the current levels of government subsidy “align with the degrees that are most beneficial to society”.
Full report on The Telegraph site