The Mickey Mouse degrees that could damage your career prospects

Telegraph

3 days ago

The cost of university has ballooned. Rising living costs, high interest and longer loan terms means many will never pay off what they owe – and the Government's plans mean the situation will only get worse.
Sir Keir Starmer will raise university tuition fees for the first time in eight years to £9,535 from September 2025.
The average university degree leaves graduates with £45,600 in debt – but some have risen to more than £230,000. Students going to university this year taking out student loans will be on the 'Plan 5' scheme, introduced last year. They will start repayments once their earnings exceed £25,000 the April after graduation, and could stand to make repayments for up to 40 years.
With the significant cost of embarking upon a university degree, it is therefore imperative that students take up a job that can adequately prepare them for the world of work, and help them get a job in the process.
In this article, we take a look at some of the worst value for money degrees available, and highlight the ones you should think twice about before applying for. We will cover the following topics:
What are Mickey Mouse degrees?
'Mickey Mouse' degrees is a term used to denote certain university degrees that do not prepare graduates for the job market and are looked upon as worthless by would-be employers.
The Tories once promised to crack down on so-called 'Mickey Mouse' degrees, shorthand for degree courses that are worthless or irrelevant. Then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vowed that the cash saved by scrapping 'rip-off' degrees would be ploughed into funding 100,000 high-skill apprenticeships.
Indeed, in its final Budget in March 2024, the Conservative Government announced it would fully fund apprenticeships by paying the full cost of training anyone up to the age of 21, in a move to reduce costs to small businesses and deliver 'more opportunities for young people to kick start their careers'.
University degrees might therefore be less tempting, as research has now revealed the degrees that are the worst value for money in 2025, a list which includes academic staples such as Geography.
The worst value for money degrees based on earning potential
Jobs website Adzuna analysed the career pathways grads of different subjects commonly take after leaving university, and what they could expect to be earning five years into their careers based on current market conditions.
The results found the degrees which are the worst value for money, with those on the lowest-ranking course making an average of £23,126 five years after graduation, as shown in the table below.
Adzuna's research revealed that photography degrees offer the worst value for money, as graduates earn an average salary of £23,030 five years after graduation.
It was followed by courses in criminology (£23,420), geography (£23,445), and translation (£23,498).
How 'Mickey Mouse' degrees can lead to a good salary
However, some graduates have bucked this trend. Ben Galyas who studied fine arts at Chelsea College of Arts, a constituent of UAL, now earns over £100,000 a year plus bonuses.
However, the 30-year-old has not carved out a lucrative living by becoming a professional artist, instead taking a sales job connecting media and tech businesses.
But Mr Galyas said 'being able to articulate difficult or intangible concepts is genuinely helpful in business'.
He explains: 'Fine art is probably the only degree that's largely discourse-led – very little dictatorial teaching and obviously no exams – which definitely helps in a sales job.'
Mr Galyas has not entirely abandoned professional artistic pursuits either, and still has a studio practice through which he has put on shows.
He said: 'I think you have to be incredibly self-motivated to get through an art degree.
'I probably do two evenings and one Sunday a week in the studio.'
After graduating he found art graduates have very few options for corporate jobs outside of sales – and there are very few entry level jobs in the arts industry for the number of grads being churned out by colleges.
How university degrees impact career prospects
Adzuna's figures showed 36pc of university degrees do not lead to an average salary above £30,000 within five years – slightly improved from last year's 40pc.
It comes as British universities face a funding crisis as the number of international students is falling, with some institutions already making sweeping cost cuts.
For the first time, universities have faced a drop in applications for the second year in a row, with teenagers in the northeast especially turning their backs on further education.
Figures from the University College Admissions Service (Ucas) show that 40.6pc of 18-year-olds had applied for a place at university, compared to 41.3pc last year and 42.1pc in 2023. In Wales, only 32pc of school leavers applied through Ucas.
Liz Emerson, of the Intergenerational Foundation, a think tank, said the stagnation of graduate salaries could make apprenticeships a 'serious consideration' for young jobseekers.
'[Adzuna's] figures paint a depressing picture for young graduates,' she said.
'By going to higher education and taking on debt, students did what society told them would bring them a graduate premium. Now it seems that graduates get to keep the debt but not the pay premium promised.'