Higher education: what is to blame?

I read this article about the troubles that higher education is facing in the UK, and ..it sounds…very familiar.

You know the drill: “let’s get the government out of higher ed and run it like a business.” So, competition for students went up..and so did the amenities …and therefore..price?

The right wingers would say that is because government pays too much and so market pressures will send the students to less ritzy schools. But where that might happen over a long period of time, higher ed is often a “one time purchase” commodity.

And so the race for students goes up..and “customer demands”..and the universities respond by hiring more and more administrators, VP’s and the like.

The actual education: well…that becomes less important in their thinking. So small section classes are discouraged, “hire cheap adjuncts” where possible..misery.

So, it would be easy to lash out at university presidents and the like, but they are trying to keep the universities “in business.” The issue is really the lack of state subsidies that used to exist.

And, at these prices, students are concerned about employment afterward more than anything else and so the “non practical” degree programs suffer..

It really is a society issue..a “problem” as I see it.