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Is government policy on HE as has emerged in recent days in any way new or a surprise? A thread.
"On a recent visit to the barber, my hair was cut by a young man who told me he had graduated from Southampton Solent University with a degree in football studies. He was friendly, articulate and skilled in his profession, but I doubted whether he thought his qualification...
...was worth the debt he will carry as a millstone around his neck for 30 years"
"Those who choose the wrong institutions and courses will see little benefit, while those who do not go to university – still a majority of young people – will be neglected"
"Ministers have argued for years that more people with degrees means more economic growth: we need, therefore, more graduates. But the evidence suggests they are wrong.
"There has been no improvement in Britain’s productivity as graduate numbers have increased. Many graduates work in non-graduate jobs, and many earn no more than if they had not gone to university at all.
"Certain degree subjects offer no return on investment, while studies show there are entire universities where average graduate earnings 10 years after study are less than those of non‑graduates.
"(There should be) radical change in tertiary education as a whole, including technical education and not just universities. As Professor Alison Wolf argues, sub-degree technical qualifications can have high labour market value and contribute to productivity growth.
"They are shorter and often cheaper. And they would serve many young people better than many of the degrees on offer today.
"Ministers would need to introduce high-quality technical qualifications that have not existed since the decline of HNCs and HNDs in the Eighties and Nineties.
"They could cap the fees for these qualifications at a lower level than for undergraduate courses, making them more attractive... Ministers should establish high-quality places of technical education. The Government plans to open new “institutes of technology"...
...(they should) force the conversion of a number of universities into these new institutes, which could be modelled on the Dutch Hogescholen, German Fachhochschulen, or even the successful polytechnics that existed in this country until the early Nineties".
It was all in here. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/16/higher-education-has-become-unsustainable-young-people-know/ Nick Timothy of course went on to make Augar happen. And Augar said this...
...the precise metrics Michelle and Donelan and Gavin Williamson have been identifying as associated with poor quality/value in last few weeks.
