This week’s announcement about so called mickey mouse degrees is, for me, ironic. I had written a column for this week’s Kidderminster Shuttle about exactly this point, ahead of the election. It is something I think is important.
So, let’s get something straight right at the start. I do not think it respectful to refer to any degree as “Mickey Mouse”. If I’d wracked up a debt on a degree that doesn’t get me a well-paid job, I would not want salt rubbed in that wound by calling my degree by a degrading name. But moving on from that, the point is important and absolutely right. I’ve always looked at this from the point of view of the taxpayer, whilst this policy looks at it from the point of view of the graduate. But at the heart of it is universities moving on from being seats of learning to vendors of qualifications.
My argument is that the taxpayer invests money into subsidising university degrees that our modern economy needs. But the system tricks the taxpayer. If a degree is not valued by the economy, the graduate will never reach the threshold to start repaying their student loan, so the taxpayer picks up 100% of the cost of a degree the economy has no need for. But for a degree that the economy values, the graduate reaches the repayment threshold quickly, so the taxpayer is repaid and the economy generates better productivity.
But for a graduate, they may have been sold a lie. Being persuaded to buy any course for any degree does not guarantee higher earnings if those degrees are not valued. The graduate is cheated and would almost certainly have done better with a modern apprenticeship, that includes things like law and accountancy.
This is a very good policy. It is honest with undergraduates and honest with taxpayers. My only caveat? Some degrees that do not assist the economy still benefit humanity’s culture and learning. But you don’t need a degree to be a photographer (for example).