American universities face many of the same issues. Our biggest problems are the excessive cost of a college education and the amount of debt many students incur via student loans.
Dan Matyola http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola On Fri, Aug 30, 2019 at 1:00 PM mike wilson <[email protected]> wrote: > > > On 25 August 2019 at 11:27 Steve Cottrell <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > On 25/8/19, mike wilson, discombobulated, unleashed: > > > > >No subscription - no read. Very liberal. > > > > Strange, I had no problem reading it. > > > > Reproduced below... > > > > The UK's reputedly world-class higher education sector has long been a > source of pride and consolation for a diminished power. At first glance, > universities have relentlessly expanded without any reduction in standards. > Since 1990, the number of undergraduate degrees awarded has increased > fivefold, while the proportion of Firsts granted has quadrupled. But this > facade of success masks profound and long-standing problems. In this week's > cover story, Harry Lambert exposes what we call "the great university con". > For decades, successive governments have systematically undermined the > value and prestige of a British degree as education has been forced to > operate under market conditions. > > > > In a 2016 OECD study, which assessed basic skill levels among recent > graduates from 23 countries, England ranked in the bottom third. In spite > of spending about £21,000 per student (more than any country except the > United States), England's skill levels are around three times worse than > the top eight countries (which spend around £15,000 per student). One in > two recent British graduates is not in graduate work, a rate that has > consistently risen since 2001. > > > > > > The purpose of university expansion, pursued by both Conservative and > Labour governments, was once a noble one. Lionel Robbins, a professor at > the London School of Economics, and the author of the 1963 report on higher > education, emphasised that "the standard traditionally attached to the term > 'degree' in this country will be fully maintained". > > > > But it has not been. On 12 July, faced with the number of students > achieving "good honours" - a First or 2:1 - rising from 47 per cent in 1994 > to 79 per cent, Damian Hinds, the former education secretary, emphasised > that "artificial grade inflation is not in anyone's interests". And yet, as > Harry Lambert writes, the "perverse incentives" imposed by the state have > made this a logical outcome. > > > > In common with so many current issues, the origins of today's problems > go back to the market turn of the 1980s. The 1985 Jarratt Report declared > that "universities are first and foremost corporate enterprises" and > inaugurated a trend of continual marketisation. As students were rebranded > as "customers", institutions sought less to test them than to appease them. > Grade inflation - designed to boost universities' league table standing - > has followed. > > > > Subsequent reforms have merely compounded the problem. The decision by > the 2010-15 coalition government largely to abolish direct state funding > for university teaching (replaced by tuition fees of £9,000) introduced a > system in which money "followed the student", creating an additional > incentive to manipulate standards and results. > > > > The British higher education system retains some formidable strengths > and the benefits of a university experience extend far beyond the awarding > of a degree. The stereotype of students as indolent hedonists is undeserved > (indeed, data suggests they have seldom been more abstemious). But grade > inflation and the unqualified expansion of universities should end. For too > long, the higher education sector has allowed its reputation to obscure a > mediocre reality. British students - who now pay the developed world's > highest public university fees - deserve much better. > > > > Nothing to argue with there. In fact, it sums up British education from > nursery upwards. > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
