Russell
Member
So today is the day the Tuition Fees Bill will be voted on. No doubt the day will end exactly as it has for the last few weeks, peaceful protests from the majority of students, minor skirmishes from the few, The Lib Dems having lost a load of it’s core voters, David Cameron with a smug look on his moon face and Labour apposing without offering any alternative solution.
Anyway not wishing to get into the politics I do want to raise a point which I think hasn’t been addressed throughout the whole debate, that of why Universities need to increase the fees in the first place. To me it seems obvious that the first thing that needs to be tackled is the core structure of universities and the ridiculous amount of courses they offer.
Is there a sound argument against Universities being limited to the number of courses/ areas they offer? To me I can only see benefits, if a University is forced to specialise in the core areas that it excels in they will be able to target budgets to make sure they stay ahead of the game. They can develop specific facilities, bring in the best industry tutors and will attract better students as they will be known for excellence in their fields.
I think most 18 year olds main concern when choosing a Uni (when studying away from home) is where do they quite fancy living and where has decent nightlife. I’m not blaming students for that (it’s exactly what I did) if you have a vast choice of possible Universities offering the same course why wouldn’t you take that in to consideration?
On the flip side specialising Universities would mean less University places, but is this a bad thing? If your turned down for uni place when your 18 you’d have the option to go away develop skills/ experience and apply next year, or if you don’t have the passion for it go and do something else.
Taking my neck of the woods for example, the West Midlands, within about a 40 mile radius there are over 12 universities: Birmingham alone has 4. You can study degree level Graphic Design on at least 7 of them.
If you average out 70 students per course, per year, that’s 490 design graduates from the west Midlands Uni’s alone. Are their 500 junior industry jobs in the region annually, at a guess I’d say 20-30 max.
I’ll stop ranting now but I honestly don't see anything wrong with this approach, anyone disagree?
Anyway not wishing to get into the politics I do want to raise a point which I think hasn’t been addressed throughout the whole debate, that of why Universities need to increase the fees in the first place. To me it seems obvious that the first thing that needs to be tackled is the core structure of universities and the ridiculous amount of courses they offer.
Is there a sound argument against Universities being limited to the number of courses/ areas they offer? To me I can only see benefits, if a University is forced to specialise in the core areas that it excels in they will be able to target budgets to make sure they stay ahead of the game. They can develop specific facilities, bring in the best industry tutors and will attract better students as they will be known for excellence in their fields.
I think most 18 year olds main concern when choosing a Uni (when studying away from home) is where do they quite fancy living and where has decent nightlife. I’m not blaming students for that (it’s exactly what I did) if you have a vast choice of possible Universities offering the same course why wouldn’t you take that in to consideration?
On the flip side specialising Universities would mean less University places, but is this a bad thing? If your turned down for uni place when your 18 you’d have the option to go away develop skills/ experience and apply next year, or if you don’t have the passion for it go and do something else.
Taking my neck of the woods for example, the West Midlands, within about a 40 mile radius there are over 12 universities: Birmingham alone has 4. You can study degree level Graphic Design on at least 7 of them.
If you average out 70 students per course, per year, that’s 490 design graduates from the west Midlands Uni’s alone. Are their 500 junior industry jobs in the region annually, at a guess I’d say 20-30 max.
I’ll stop ranting now but I honestly don't see anything wrong with this approach, anyone disagree?