Overselling Higher Education, British Style
Prime Minister Tony Blair clearly believes in education. When he took office in 1997, he announced his priorities: Education, education, education.
He believes in education so strongly that he has set a target of inducing 50 percent of our school leavers (graduates) to go to university. There is, of course, something a bit fishy about this: why not 48 percent, or 61 percent? If there was any rational basis for deciding on this figure, we have not been told.
The trouble is that the Blair government—which has almost doubled public spending since he took office—cannot possibly afford to pay for all this. Until recently, students were entitled to free tuition, and grants to pay for their living expenses. In terms of public spending, this was affordable when only 7 percent of our school leavers went on to university.