Two-year degrees are a short-term fix

The Conservative government pledged in their election manifesto to increase the number of students participating in two-year undergraduate degrees. The up-take thus far has proven disappointing. With explicit benefits touted by the government for would-be students, and implicit benefits more quietly touted for the government itself, the apparent fault for this lack of up-take lies with the universities.

Let’s consider the economics. Completing an undergraduate degree in two years would, in theory, lead to graduates holding less debt than their three-year counterparts. In the face of higher tuition fees, as well as the general increase in the cost of living, reducing the duration of the course seems desirable. Further, the graduate may now enter the job market sooner.

Both reduced debt and earlier work have benefits for the government also, who act as the lender of student finance and collect taxes on earnings. Politically, such an endeavour is also useful, for the nagging issue of tuition fees may be placated by this new, cheaper, alternative. Alternative is also important to recognise; in a market dominated by three and four-year courses, two-year courses offer more choice, which all parties concerned may see as a positive. (I use the word market, and a discussion of choice, dubiously, as we shall see)

Greater choice must certainly be a selling point supported by the universities. If such a course could be packaged to bolster the notion of employment (which, even if false, will inevitably happen), universities will classify this as another positive. Yet, the argument must return to economics, and it is here we find the opposition. For a two-year course to be offered as a cheaper option, the reduced cost must be borne by someone, with the appetite for such a subsidiary not with the government. Two-year degrees would demand universities alter their teaching structure and receive less for the pleasure.

There is an argument that two-year courses would attract more students and increase demand for the universities. Yet such an argument seems dubious; there is already a notion in this country that we have enough graduates – further, even a smaller amount of debt to one’s name may still be viewed as unnecessary debt in the eyes of someone unconvinced university is for them. Two-year courses are not likely to generate sufficient demand.

What they do, however, is alter certain perspectives regarding higher education. Immediately it should be stated, as someone who believes in the abolition of higher education tuition fees, I regard two-year degrees not as a bad thing, but as a half measure. The desire to learn should not be prevented due to monetary barriers. Arguments made by the government in regard to this policy seem to acknowledge this is the state of higher education for some. Indeed, spend any time around a university campus and one will hear such stories, coupled with nihilistic approaches to the debt itself.

The latter statements compliment the point we now return to. The system of higher education in its present form is not sustainable. It is not sustainable due to the burden of debt, certainly, but it is also unsustainable given the growth in online education. If the appeal of two-year degrees is that they are cheaper, then the appeal of an online course (considering only the cost) must be several magnitudes greater. Of course, degrees, it is argued, offer something more. Yet this effect seems diminished as universities continue to promote the employability aspect of their courses, rather than the old adages of expanding one’s mind. At post-graduate level such adages return, but with a slight wink and a healthy dose of employability skills thrown in. Regarding employability, online courses are most certainly a threat.

MOOC companies such as Coursera generate revenue largely through recruitment, with their students having been taught content curated for specific employers. The variety of courses offered by various education sites is also expansive. For the traditional university model, two-year courses do little to compete on either market choice or employability; instead they are a continuity of the current model with benefits that only address internal issues with the current model. They do not consider the changing nature of higher education – the external issues such as MOOCs.

Again, I do not dislike two-year degrees as an idea. I think there are a great many financial benefits for both students and the government, and perhaps even going so far as to change the norm from three to two years would be wise? Yet it feels like a sorry offering at this current time. Never has higher education felt more like an industry; simultaneously, never has an industry felt less innovative. Fees must fall so as to break the stranglehold whilst not disenfranchising those who now dream of going to university. But fees must also fall so that universities may return to teaching students as if they are students, and not economic units.

There will be some that dismiss this as liberal daydreaming, but it is not. Inevitably employers will begin recognising qualifications offered via online education platforms. When that happens, the credential value of an undergraduate degree will be the same of one earnt online, and the most dominantly factor will become cost. Yet universities will never be able to compete on price, and must offer something else in return for the higher mark up. In this regard, student experience has value, and embracing innovation in education is invaluable.

Two-year degrees do neither. By gaming the cost at the expense of other elements, they do not tackle the growing competition. By continuing the current higher education model, they do not embrace innovation. And by regimenting the university process, they reduce the value of other things universities have to offer.