Universities are increasingly becoming unfit for purpose.
August 12, 2009 
It's a usual headline, and certainly one you could expect to read in the mainstream media. Labour have to a great extent ruined this country, and of course higher education is no exception. Whether it be cuts in funding, to increases in student numbers, to dilution of course content, you can rest assured Labour is trying to worsen Britain's renowned higher education system.
The problem as it stands is that Labour are planning to cut 6,000 lectureship and professorial posts, leaving fewer academics to teach and research at university, as well as a general cut in funding, but at the same time, the government proposes a mediocre increase in tuition fees while imposing 10,000 extra - and unfunded - places in universities on the most costly of courses.
It is unsustainable. Labour argues that universities are failing the poorer members of society, but in reality Labour has done this by closing down grammar schools, and additionally, they're worsening the prospects of those from poorer backgrounds by this affront on higher education.
The solution? Well, it's quite clear and plain that we cannot have increased participation in higher education while at the same time have less funding and fewer academics yet still maintain the quality of education offered to students.
Personally, I think the solution is a combination of increasing student tuition fees (possibly removing the cap and allowing variable fees) and also realising that we cannot have 50pc of 18 year olds in higher education for a variety of reasons, whether it be because the economy doesn't require it or because maybe - and let us accept this - not everyone is academically capable of attending university and so a vocational course would be more suitable to them.
The above may sound like blasphemy to the left, but let's be realistic. We have to shift higher education funding toward private industry and also the students themselves; national governments have an important role to play, but that is more in relation to the cutting edge research. Additionally, we need people to fill vocational roles which are vital to the everyday running of society and it's important to not have a 'snobbish' attitude toward such roles within society, as again let's be plain and simple, everyone in society has an important role to play.
The Conservative Party has been somewhat timid on the issue of higher education. It is important that David Willetts be bold and take the lead on higher education funding and the future of British universities.
Already universities are looking toward becoming private and independent institutions or increasing the amount of international students who pay £10,000 or more per year to make up the funding shortfall at the expense of places available for British students. If we don't come up with a solution, the universities will, and it won't necessarily be in the best interests of us all.
Reader Comments (3)
As a retired professor and dean, I believe that government has become too involved in higher education in America. The money that flows out of Washington biases research and promotes a lot of pork barrel flavor of the month solutions to problems. If Universities became more competitive, they'd be more focused on getting real solutions, producing results, and having value. This goes counter to the academic lifestyle though that has grown fat through unions and government pork barrels.
In a true marketplace, prices might even decline rather than going up once things settle. Salaries are very out of proportion for the value received and any kind of social benefit for the poor who are already forgotten by higher education - with the exception of a handful of poster child exceptions.
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