University has never been more popular, with record numbers attending freshers' weeks this month, up 9.1 per cent on last year, according to Ucas. Nearly half a million final-year students received their degree results this summer. However, the value of a degree from a British university is increasingly questioned, as the days when a degree guaranteed a better job and higher social status have passed.
A report by Kent University published last week found that one third of graduates from the class of 2003 earn no extra money as a result of their qualification. The degree classification system has been called 'rotten', the Student Loans Company 'incompetent', and graduate salaries rose by only 1.8 per cent last year, the smallest increase in years. With new tuition fees of £3,000 per year, some middle-income students will finish with debts of £30,000.
The decline is attributed to policy changes. In 1992, Parliament passed the Further and Higher Education Acts, allowing polytechnics to become universities, a move suggested by then Prime Minister John Major. Later, Tony Blair's Labour government pledged that by 2010, 50 per cent of under-30s would have gone through higher education. Professor Geoffrey Alderman, formerly in charge of standards at University of London, believes these access targets have devalued degrees, as more institutions gain university status and grade inflation increases.
Bob Burgess, vice-chancellor of Leicester University, recommended last year that all students be given transcripts of their marks to help employers assess achievement beyond degree class alone. Many London barrister chambers now routinely ask for finals transcripts due to the high number of applicants with Firsts.
The students most affected are those from less privileged backgrounds. Of the third of graduates whose degree made no difference to their starting salary, most were from polytechnics or new universities, where drop-out rates are higher. At London Metropolitan, London South Bank, Middlesex and Thames Valley universities, over a quarter of students fail to complete their degree. Half of the student body at Bolton University dropped out this year, up from 43 per cent the previous year. Twenty per cent of graduates from new universities say they would rather not have attended.
