Universities were once a place where only the elite could study. Only those from wealthy backgrounds could get a degree. In 1973, the Whitlam Labor Government abolished university fees making university education accessible to all Australians. However, in 1989, both sides of government agreed that free tertiary education was untenable. The much loved (or hated) HECS was introduced which allows students to defer payment of their fees until after they have gained employment and reached a certain salary threshold.
Between 1971 and 1991, the proportion of men with a degree or higher qualification rose from 3% to 8%.
Part of this increase is a consequence of the progressive upgrading to degree status of courses which were at diploma level or lower in 1971.
Just because a teacher has a degree, doesn’t necessarily make them a good teacher. There are probably many people out there who would make great teachers, but they don’t have any formal qualification.
Professor Simon Marginson, from the University of Melbourne's Centre for the Study of Higher Education stated, “As the number of graduates increases, the value of each individual graduate's degree goes down”.
In modern day Australia, universities effectively get funding based off the number of students they enrol.
Consequently, universities now run slick advertising campaigns. They have entire marketing departments dedicated to attracting more students.
First of all, there are too many students getting degrees. Having a degree doesn’t make you stand out anymore.
Anybody with the motivation could learn to be a computer programmer by studying online tutorials.
This is a concept known as “academic inflation”. If a company can hire someone with a degree, or one without, of course they’re going to get the one with the degree.
This puts pressure on all young people to get a degree. But once everyone has a degree, obviously the value of having one goes down.
For a young person, ultimately this means they have to study three to six years longer than their parents did to get the same job.
In 2012, I did a Master of Computing. Did it get me a job? Yes. Did I like my job? No. Did I really need to go to uni to learn what I learnt? No.
So why do companies not hire people who are good at coding, but don’t have degrees? Because it’s easier for them to vet applicants.
Secondly, universities pump out graduates, often forgetting about quality.
This makes sense from the teacher’s perspective. If a teacher were to fail 90% of their students, then the university would be asking questions.
This has lead to a dumbing down of university education. The quality of students that I have seen of late has been atrocious.
Back in 2000, I failed an exam for Asian Studies (I confused Taiwan with Thai
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yijnHjA4JbY