[Oliver_W]

While the economy isn't great, I'd wonder if less well-off prospective students shouldn't consider going to a university which is commutable from their home instead of moving, and/or working through their course if the workload allows it.

I'm not one of those who says "don't waste time with a pointless degree like Sociology" but not all courses have a clear career path following them, especially when half of young people are going to university, so I would suggest people think very carefully about what and where they study, because if down the line you want to be a nurse or teacher then you're a bit screwed because you only get four years worth of student loans.