In Defence of University

Apparently, we’re getting a new Prime Minister today. Don’t know if you’ve heard.

Whilst outlining his plans for the nation, a topic Burnham has repeatedly turned to is education. He has called for a ‘complete rethink’ of the system, characterising its current form as one which follows a strict, university-only track. He would like to see more focus on technical training and less on academia.

It’s not that I fundamentally disagree with anything Burnham is saying. Young people should have more choice when it comes to how and what they study and university isn’t for everyone. However, we have to see the PM’s comments in context of a media and political landscape which is increasingly hostile towards higher education, the arts, academic institutions and robustly collated scientific data.

The far-right is in ascendance in the United States and across Europe (although, if the paltry attendance of the recent CPAC UK conference is anything to judge by, not as popular in this country as the bots might have you believe). Trump has targeted numerous colleges with federal funding freezes, civil rights investigations, visa restrictions, and executive actions. Here in the UK, there’s been political hostility towards universities, fuelled by relentless media pieces about how it’s all a waste of young people’s time and money.

Some of the concern is justified – student debt is spiralling and the recent scandal involving interest rates on student loans was deservedly given media focus. The rest, however, is a vibes-based combination of wealthy people whose children will definitely go to university seemingly aghast that it’s no longer a privilege reserved for the upper classes and Gove’s notorious ‘the country has had enough of experts’ sentiment.

As a working-class woman, I am incredibly lucky to have existed during a time when I was allowed to access university. I chose the subject I enjoyed most at school (English Literature) and luxuriated in the opportunity to study it for another three years. I didn’t think about how the qualification I left with might influence my job prospects or future career. I wanted to extend my education simply because I loved learning.

Many might baulk at the audacity of this, but I’d remind them that of two things. Firstly, you only get one life. My three years at university enjoying maximum freedom and minimal responsibility, connecting with people all from all over the world, is an experience I will forever treasure.

Secondly, huge swathes of our political establishment studied classics at university and whilst perhaps there are lessons to be drawn on how to govern 21^st century Britain from studying the culture of Ancient Rome, it’s probably not the first qualification you’d expect modern Prime Ministers and Chancellors to have attained. Of course, a disproportionate chunk of our political establishment also attended schools like Eton. Historically, those are the pupils who would go on to study at university, being exposed to science, literature, philosophy and art, whilst working classes were told it wasn’t for the likes of them.

I hate it when people frame education as what must be endured to gain the skills you need for a job at the end of it. It’s so much more than that. Education is its own reward and, as the government’s own website concedes brings with it a ‘longevity bonus’- For each year we stay in education improves life expectancy. People who went to university are also less likely to endure ill health, both physical and mental.

Graduates are also less prone to fall for fake news or simplistic political slogans. This is not because people who go to university are ‘cleverer’ but because degree-level education involves conducting robust research, fact-checking and thinking critically. This, along with the fact that the arts foster empathy, is why fascistic and authoritarian governments have always targeted academics.

Like I said at the top of this substack, university is not for everyone. But for those for whom it absolutely is the desirable path it should be an affordable option – and one which is celebrated, not derided.

I said all of this during my LBC show on Saturday (second hour), inviting listeners to reflect on what the university experience gave them and you can listen back to the conversation here.