For decades children have flocked to university. Governments have touted it as a boon for social mobility and economic growth, parents as a gateway to great careers. Yet as fees rise and graduate earnings stagnate, is it really worth it?

University students made a record number of complaints last year to the higher education watchdog, and a recent YouGov poll found the majority asked, said university tuition fees were 'bad value for money'.

So is university worth it? What does it really cost and what are the options if you decide not to go?

Anjula Mutanda meets mum Sophie who is unsure if she should encourage two of her teenage boys to go to university. Her eldest, Alexander, has a place at Oxford Brookes for September, but he is admittedly unacademic, dislikes studying, and his only visit to a lecture theatre filled him with horror. Her youngest is bright but would like to get stuck into work as soon as possible. He wants to be an entrepreneur and believes his school are encouraging him to think about university for the wrong reasons.

What should Sophie advise them to do?

Anjula’s panel this week is: Charlie Ball, Head of labour market intelligence at Jisc, Save the Student's Tom Allingham, Prof Tom Sperlinger, author of 'Who are universities for?', Helen Small, Merton Professor of English Language and Literature, Dan Keller, CEO of Unifrog and Peter Gray, research professor of psychology at Boston College.

Producer: Sarah Bowen Show less