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There has been no erosion of the financial benefit of a degree despite the massive increase in graduates over the past 15 years, a new report from Universities UK concludes.

The report shows that gross additional lifetime earnings are now about Pounds 160,000 or 20-25 per cent more for individuals with a higher education qualification than for those not studying beyond A levels.

But there is wide variation across different degree subjects. The lifetime earnings premium is ?340,000 for medicine and dentistry, compared with ?51,549 for the humanities and ?34,949 for the arts.

Men from lower socioeconomic backgrounds get the greatest financial benefit from completing a degree.