Lap dancing to fund a degree

A recent report from the Guardian has revealed a survey by Leeds University that shows that one in three lap dancers were working to fund their education.
The survey of over 200 lap dancers found that 14% were doing it to fund undergraduate study, 6% were on postgraduate courses and 4% were in further education.

One of the girls surveyed said that they would struggle to pay for their postgraduate course without lap dancing and that if the clubs were closed then many would likely drop out of higher education. The justification for this is that the pay can be as high as £300 in a single night and the flexibility of hours means that the student’s studies are rarely affected.

And you can see how it could be tempting given this student’s account of a postgraduate degree, which highlights the cost of a part time postgrad in journalism consuming all of her disposable income at a cost of around £80 per lecture.

The article notably refers to a number of concerns from universities with Southampton Solent encouraging students to contact their careers service to find student jobs and Oxford highlighting their generous bursary offerings (which the government have recommended be cut in half).

The study also found that there were those who weren’t so happy in their job with high commission and irregular hours being the main cause for concern. The most extreme cases being that some would finish their shift with less than they started with.

The obvious question is how the rise in tuition fees will affect the statistics at the top of this page? But when asked the department for Business Innovation and Skills referred to the much repeated statement that “students do not pay anything for their tuition upfront”.

However a survey of over 1300 students, following the announcement of the increase in tuition fees, shows that 82% of female students now expect to work part time whilst at uni to subsidise their degree.

Students are concerned about the rise in fees and although they won’t pay anything until they are earning over £20,000 it is the thought of having such a large debt that concerns many prospective students and will prompt them to find ways to reduce this debt by working whilst at uni.