OR WOULD THIS PUSH POORER STUDENTS TOWARDS LOWER PAID CAREERS?
Arts degrees should be cheaper than science degrees, as they are less likely to lead to the highest paid jobs, it has been suggested.
In a speech earlier this week, Theresa May stunned her audience by suggesting that some BA degrees should be made cheaper to reflect the lower earnings potential of those who study them.
While there is some logic behind the Prime Minister’s idea, people soon began to point out that there also are big problems with it.
One of the most vocal critics was the former education secretary, Nicky Morgan, who voiced concerns that such a change could lead to dangerous and unintended consequences, such as poorer students deliberately choosing the cheaper degree subjects, vastly reducing their own chances of landing a high paid job after graduation. The UK would also miss out on their talents which could have been put to better use in different field, Morgan explained:
“We want everybody to feel that all careers are open to them. If those who are struggling to afford university in the first place feel they cannot do a Stem [Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths] degree because it is too expensive, ultimately it is the country that will suffer.”
This idea was one of many that appeared in a bizarre and sudden blizzard of concern from the Government about the value for money students and graduates have been gaining from their university degree. Even Theresa May admitted that students in England face “one of the most expensive systems of university tuition in the world,” and raised concerns that “the level of fees charged to not relate to the cost or quality of the course.” Yeah, no kidding! That’s only what pretty much all graduates have been saying for the last five years. The crucial questions are: Why has it taken so long for your concerns to be taken seriously, and what will happen next?
* SHOULD ARTS DEGREES BE CHEAPER THAN SCIENCE DEGREES?
Science graduates, do you feel your degree was a better investment than if you’d studied an arts subject? And arts graduates, do you resent the fact you paid the same for your degree as people who studied science and may now be in better-paid jobs than you? Graduates have a unique perspective on this important issue, so please share your views – thanks!
We appreciate that Nicky Morgan continues to vent a personal grudge against her sacking by Theresa May….despite David Cameron perpetrating a jolly jape by appointing someone as inept and ill qualified as Nicky Morgan as even an intern.
On the subject at hand…if Universities are given the freedom to charge different fees for different courses, which already occurs, then the Universities will justify charging the maximum figure for the more popular courses, and the maximum figure for the least popular of courses.
Far better than the Government Regulates the setting of fees, and imposes a substantially lower fee tariff than exists now. Reduce it from £9K per annum to £1K per annum, and reintroduce maintenance grants.
I wondered whether there was a type on this, but now I’m not sure… Do you mean that you think universities will always find a way to justify maximum fees, whatever the course?
All worthless degrees. Look at this article from as far back as 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6183017.stm
“I graduated from one of the top universities in the country doing a highly rated degree and I can say with full confidence that it was a waste of £6,750 and three years of my life.”
Mo, London
“I studied Politics at Aberdeen University in the late 1990’s. I recently read a study which suggested that men who study for a Politics degree earn no more over their working lives than men who do not go to university. This is bourne out by my own circumstances where I have found the degree of little practical use in the job market”
Alistair Hogg, Edinburgh, Scotland
Eowyn Rohan, thank you for your blog post.Really thank you! Awesome.
There are obviously a few careers in which having a degree is more or less essentially, such as medicine, law, engineering, etc, but other than those having a degree these days seems totally pointless and just debt for the sake of it.
The degrees I’d say are particularly worthless are most Arts and Social Sciences degrees. Most employers don’t value them and it seems to me that they do little to increase most graduate’s job prospects.
Ultimately I think the university system these days is a total racket designed to keep the tens of thousands of university staff in jobs. Most universities know that a large proportion of the courses they run are useless, but they continue to offer them because universities operate like businesses today, not as public institutions with a level of social responsibility.
Really career success comes down to natural talent and the drive to succeed in my opinion. I highly doubt that the vast majority of Arts and Social Science graduates get any further in their careers with their degree than if they hadn’t bothered to do a degree.
With the exception of a few industries as mentioned above, most companies don’t seem interested in what degree you have. All most companies are interested in is what experience you have in that particular field.
It seems to me that most companies would take a far more favourable view of someone who has spent 3 years aquiring work experience in their chosen field and building their CV rather than going to university, than someone who has spent 3 years doing an Arts or Social Science degree and has never worked a day in their life.