Typically students entering university this year can expect to leave with a debt of about £17,500. This includes those benefiting from the grants, reduced fees and bursaries that are available, so for some it will be more. Given all the other things the time and money could be spent on – forging a career, getting on the property ladder, seeing the world – is it worth it?

For many the answer will be a resounding “yes”. Going to university can be life-transforming. It can mean being taken to the frontiers of a subject by world experts, it can lead to attractive future employment and it can offer the fun of sharing three years with similarly talented people.

Even in strict financial terms it can pay off. University vice-chancellors said recently that graduates can expect lifetime earnings of about £160,000 more than those with A-levels only, which they calculate as a rate of return of about 13%. Not bad when current interest rates are less than half that.

But it is a case of “can”, not “will”. Institutions at the top of the league table differ from those at the bottom as much as Manchester United and Arsenal differ from recent additions to the Football League, Morecambe and Dagenham. There is a huge gulf in history and tradition, talent, income, facilities and expectations. Neither are all subjects equivalent. Calling a course a degree may not make it worthwhile.

Universities have traditionally been at their best in passing on bodies of knowledge to which they themselves have contributed. They have been strong in teaching the professions such as medicine, law and engineering, which depend on a high level of understanding, and subjects such as physics, philosophy and history, which are among the ways we make sense of the world.

New subjects such as psychology and computer science have emerged. Increasingly, the view is being taken that some courses are merely a vehicle for developing a set of skills important to employers. It does not matter what is taught so long as supposed skills such as problem solving, teamworking and self-starting are promoted. Programmes in equine psychology, outdoor adventure and film fiction are claimed to be just as valuable as those in more familiar disciplines.

Universities, through their media advertisements and marketing, can be very persuasive. They need to be able to fill their places and draw down funding from the taxpayer, but anyone embarking on such courses should have a clear view of how these will enhance their lives.

With almost half of young people getting degrees, employers can find themselves swamped with applications and having to be ruthless. Having a qualification is becoming less important than where you got it, what you studied and how you perform.

Not all graduates get graduate jobs. Despite a wider acceptance of new and niche occupations, more than half of those with degrees from some universities, including Derby, Aberystwyth and Bath Spa, are having to make do with nongraduate jobs. Subjects have different prospects. Accountancy, medicine, maths and computing, and engineering are the most profitable, and arts, English, history, and the social sciences the least.

But universities should be about much more than preparing for jobs. Much more important than salary is to have a fulfilling life. There are so many degree opportunities on offer that it may be difficult to pilot your way though them. It is no longer possible, however, as it was when graduates were scarce, to postpone thinking about your life until you have enjoyed university.

Dropout rates are disturbingly high. Overall, nearly a quarter of full-time entrants do not complete their degrees and in some universities, including Bolton, Anglia Ruskin and Glamorgan, it is even more.

In general, it is the students with the best grades going to the most competitive universities who are the least likely to give up. Those going into higher education in the blind hope that a degree in any subject, from anywhere, is “a good thing” are the most at risk.

To avoid the disillusion and waste involved in dropping out, it is essential to ask what you like and are good at and which universities are most likely to enable you to fulfil your aims. It does not have to be university. Many openings, from being an entrepreneur to plumbing, can be learnt successfully on the job through practical experience. They also tend to be better paid and more fulfilling, if these are your talents, than the work in academia to which many graduates aspire.

Then there are tuition fees. They may not be popular, but they do give students more say. Universities and courses for which nobody is willing to pay will not survive. Higher education will become increasingly shaped by what is important to students and other customers. In other words, paradoxically, fees will make going to university even more worthwhile.

Alan Smithers is director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham

Times recommends

• Students face big rise in university fees
• Students to rate lecturers online
• Lord heads team to look at raising tuition fees