GOING to university can be life-enhancing — but it depends on the institution. Now the Government is to limit numbers at universities and colleges where too few students complete their course or obtain skilled or well-paying jobs within 15 months of graduation. In a year when many university lecturers have gone on strike and refused to mark the exam papers on which students’ results are based, many undergraduates will be reflecting ruefully on whether a degree is all it’s meant to be.
The restrictions on numbers at poor university courses is a belated response to a drastic inflation in the numbers at university since Tony Blair’s time in office. A review commissioned by Theresa May in 2019 recommended these reforms, and also a reduction in tuition fees — but that’s not happening. The problem of too many students doing poor degrees is not only a problem for them — thwarted expectations and large debt — but also for the taxpayer. If those students do not earn enough to pay back their loans, we are all out of pocket.
