This column's about the down-side of universities, so I should probably begin by admitting I've spent many happy years attending these institutions, including most recently a term, three years ago, at Cambridge. During this period I've learned a great deal, although it's probably also important to note that I'm sure my professors believed I should have learnt a great deal more. My standpoint is, however, that I'm very pro education.
That, of course, is not nearly the same thing as being pro university.
![In the current job market, there are no guarantees of a bright future for young people studying at university. Photo: ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170721161630im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/i/8/d/x/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxd9s1.png/1500529974131.jpg)
The government claims the higher education system plays "a critical role in fuelling innovation, driving productivity and giving students the skills they need for future success". It's problematic to work out how much anyone may have benefited from studying, because it's not possible to run counter-factual comparisons. Nevertheless, ask yourself to what extent do you attribute your own productivity and success to university and how much would have occurred anyway, because of other factors? And does learning how to perform tasks in a particular structured way really fuel innovation, or just assist someone to do their current job better? And if university really has provided such a leg-up for our society, why is it that productivity has levelled off, particularly now when so many more people possess degrees?
The reality is that education stopped being something intrinsically wonderful, in itself, the moment it became an industry. And today it's a very big industry. That's why it deserves some examination to see how much it's serving itself, instead of the needs of its students or society. Tertiary institutions are no longer just about thinking, learning, growing up and having fun; they're huge businesses and, as such, have a massive interest in pushing their own barrow. So let's examine this sector with the aim of working out exactly whose needs it's serving.
![NCH- NEWS - Newcastle University Graduation. Photo by Marina Neil - 4th October 2012](http://web.archive.org./web/20170721161630im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/z/q/w/n/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxd9s1.png/1500529974131.jpg)
Let's begin with the contradictions. Take accounting. There's significant demand for graduates with this skill and most local graduates have little difficulty finding work, which is good. Indeed, and despite Peter Dutton's much publicised 457-visa crackdown, we're still importing up to 500 accountants a quarter to fill the supposedly emerging gaps in this occupation. In the meantime, however, there's a large (and growing) number of foreign students, possessing Australian degrees, who are unable to find even entry-level jobs in the industry. They were lured here with the promise of getting a specialist qualification and work, yet it now appears their training isn't enough to actually equip them to work here. In fact the profession believes it's so dodgy we still need to recruit accountants from overseas. Why?
Then there's oversupply, and journalism's got to be the poster child here. When I was employed by the ABC, only one of five cadet journalists possessed a degree in journalism. An excellent reporter, she ended up a senior editor at a newspaper, and is a terrific advertisement of the benefits of the vocational degree. Among the rest of us, however, three became foreign correspondents and the other wrote a best-selling book, which suggests a generalist degree is just as viable a specialised one. Nevertheless, increasing demand has seen journalism degrees proliferating at exactly the same moment that employment prospects are collapsing. Many, even most students, will never get a job in this industry. So why are so many courses being provided?
Then there's the extra financial burden placed on those most unable to bear it. Having a degree is increasingly becoming the prerequisite to even getting a look-in at a job interview, but the problem is that there isn't enough work to go round - certainly not well-paid work. Graduates might get a job somewhere, but they'll be entering the workforce later, after at least three years out of paid employment, and saddled with extra debt to repay the cost of education.
It's no wonder home ownership is so low among young people. They've got to buy their university lecturer a house, before they can purchase one for themselves.
![Graduation, uni, university, graduate, graduating](http://web.archive.org./web/20170721161630im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/s/a/s/e/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxd9s1.png/1500529974131.jpg)
The problem is the system's been set up as a one-way street.
As a society we (correctly) believe education's a public good. We encourage people to study by handing out free student loans that students repay when they earn enough. There are three parties to the contract: the government, which pays the universities, and the students, who pay money back to the government. Notice who doesn't have to fork over any money? The tertiary institutions themselves. They're winners all the way. It's no wonder vice-chancellors are paid more, often way more, that the PM. Anybody who can work out a scheme like that, sell it to the public, and still be assumed to be selfless, deserves all the money they can hoard.
![Having a degree is increasingly becoming the prerequisite to even getting a look-in at a job interview, but the problem ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170721161630im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/j/j/u/q/y/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxd9s1.png/1500529974131.jpg)
Education Minister Simon Birmingham has managed to bring some terrific reforms to the secondary sector. Fortunately for Labor, the government's been far too busy destroying itself to trumpet any success. Our schoolchildren will reap the benefit in a few years' time. It's a good moment for the Minister to turn his attention to universities.
If graduates from particular courses can't get work, it's not just the students that are to blame. The universities should have to pay a price for their failure, as well.
![Having a degree is increasingly becoming the prerequisite to even getting a look-in at a job interview, but the problem ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170721161630im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/y/q/v/f/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxd9s1.png/1500529974131.jpg)
Nicholas Stuart is a Canberra writer.
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