The lefties just don't get supply and demand

One in four university degree courses cut, figures show. BBC:

There has been a 27% drop in the number of full-time undergraduate degree courses offered at UK universities over the past six years, data shows.
Research by the University and Colleges Union shows the number of undergraduate courses available has decreased from 70,052 in 2006 to 51,116 in 2012.
UCU's analysis of data from the admissions service, Ucas, found course reduction was worst in England, at 31%.

So they've spotted a drop in numbers, but have they spotted why?

In Scotland, where local students do not pay fees, the reduction was 3%.

Yes?

Although students in England are expected to pay up to £9,000 a year to study, there is much less choice for them”

No.

"We fear that shifting the burden of funding from the state to the student means nervous universities will look to axe even more courses that they worry won't make a profit."
Commenting on the research, Professor James Ladyman, professor of philosophy at the University of Bristol, said: "I am really concerned that under the new funding environment, universities will look at concentrating their resources on courses which they believe will deliver the highest financial return.

The burden of funding has not been transferred from the state to the student, it's been transferred from the taxpayer to the student.

Some people believe that eduction should be free; that a good educational system benefits society as a whole and should be paid for by society. There is a good argument for it but I don't personally subscribe to it.

The problem with our current tertiary education system, the one that new Labour created, is that the taxpayer is not paying for a good education system, they are paying for more and more courses to be created so we can have more people in university education to meet targets.

Socialists love targets and Labour had set the lofty goal of having fifty percent of young people getting a university education. The problem which they ignore is that there aren't that many people with the capability and intelligence for university. That simple fact however, is viewed as elitist. To cover it up they started creating a whole bunch of Mickey Mouse courses that anybody can do.

If the taxpayer is footing the bill they can convince anybody to stay employment for a few years while they go to uni. Combined with all the silly courses, high schools began to tell students that tertiary education was a right for everybody, that they can no longer be judged on their abilities, anyone can go to university.

So higher eduction is no longer the reserve of students with a special mental aptitude, it's for everyone. And it's horribly watered down.

But university courses are no longer free. Students aren't that silly. They are not going to spend thousands of pounds on a university degree that will do nothing to get them a good job in later life. Now that university costs money we are going to see only the students with abilities to pass real degrees and go on to enter a serious career taking on the challenge. When it was free it didn't matter.

The trouble is, all students going through school are still being taught the lefty ideals that higher education is a right for all and all are equal. As universities begin to drop the rubbish courses because of lack of interest they are going to be accused of profiteering.

The simple fact is that if you can't fill a class you ain't going to bother selling the course.

Hopefully we will start to see a rise in the quality of higher education again, and university degrees will once more be worth a lot to the person who worked to get them.

University isn't for everyone.