Sometimes you read a story in the news that seems designed to wind up as many people as possible. This week, that story involves a degree in content creation from Nottingham Trent University. Otherwise known as the “influencer degree”, this three-year course comes with BA (Hons) status and a top-tier price tag of almost £10,000 a year, for which students will learn “hands-on technical production”, “analytics, branding and commercial strategy” and collaboration with brands and “industry partners”. Course leaders are at pains to point out it won’t turn them into overnight social media stars, but of course, while reading, I felt the cold drag of undertow forces pulling me towards world-gone-mad outrage.
We’ve been here before, obviously: media studies, women’s studies, anything that hasn’t been on the syllabus of the ancient universities for at least 500 years is vulnerable to accusations of dumbing down – and this is no different. The course was launched in 2022, meaning its first cohort of graduates are out there looking for jobs right now, while giving interviews about whether or not it was worth it. One very sensible-sounding graduate, talking to the BBC this week in what one assumes is an application of the all-publicity-is-good-publicity principle learned from her course, said that the £30,000 spend was worth it for the networking opportunities alone – an absolutely valid point and half the reason why people strive towards Oxbridge.
