Arts Degrees leave students worse off, Cornerstone MP warn.
Most arts students will be worse off as a result of pursuing a
university education, according to a new paper
published by a group of socially conservative Tory MPs.
And about a half of all university entrants drop out, become
unemployed or go into jobs for which a degree is not the norm, it
reveals.
The paper, published today by the 25-strong Cornerstone Group of
Conservative MPs, accuses the Government of adopting a flawed strategy by insisting that 50 per cent of all school-leavers should attend
university.
Instead of expanding higher education still further and taking in yet
more students who will suffer financially from taking a degree,
Ministers should target spending on reversing the decline in the
quantity and quality of maths and engineering courses.
Rapid remedial action is needed to halt a “pitiful collapse” in maths teaching in schools and the closures of university engineering , physics and chemistry departments.
The paper, by Conservative frontbencher Julian Brazier, draws on
research by academics and Government departments, to argue that the
rapid expansion of higher education in recent years is proving
increasingly wasteful.
Maths, computing, engineering and science courses, which recent surveys show produce good returns for individual students and for the economy as a whole, are being squeezed.
University lecturers are poorly paid and the overall market value of many degrees is declining, especially with the advent of top-up fees and soaring levels of student debt.
Drawing on two major studies, Mr Brazier argues that the
least successful outcomes are from traditional arts and humanities. In contrast many vocational degrees, such as media studies, can be a passport to a welll-paid job.
“It must concern us that barely half of those who entered university in
recent years completed their degrees and followed careers for which a
degree is even a norm, let alone a requirement,” Mr Brazier warns. “In
future, many, including a majority of those who do traditional arts
subjects, are likely to make a substantial financial loss out of their
time at university.”
“The financial benefits from their studies will be either less than the
cost of the course or even, in some cases, worth nothing in the job
market at all. Yet the Government plans a further growth in the
university sector from 43 per cent participation to 50 per cent.”
The paper cites research showing that 34 per cent of recent university
entrants either drop out of their courses, fail to find work on
graduation or do non-graduate jobs.
This figure rises to 55 per cent if it also includes those who follow careers in which most of their fellow workers are non-graduates. “This seems a poor return to the taxpayer. It also seems a very poor return to the students who fall into that bottom third. Many will have run up large debts, and with top-up fees, more will do so,” Mr Brazier adds.
Download the full article here.
Julian Brazier MP can be contacted on 0207 219 2429/5178 or (text messages only) 07725 789021.
