To a Radical Degree: Reshaing the Uk's Higher Education for the Post-pandemic World

Abstract

COVID-19 is exposing the fundamentally unsound nature of successive government policies and higher education institutions. Many institutions were in a weak financial position before the pandemic and are now facing a massive cash-flow crisis. These difficulties could permanently decrease the demand for higher education places. The pandemic has crystallised pre-existing concerns that there is something awry with the product and services universities offer, and how the system is run and financed. The UK higher education policy has been heading in the wrong direction since the mid-1980s, and there is no evidence that the UK’s economic performance has been elevated by the expansion in the number of graduates. On the contrary, it has led to overextension, increased financial fragility, and a system that fails to meet labour market needs. These problems cannot be resolved by a continuation or expansion of previous policies; instead, wholesale reform may be required. Different kinds of institutions could be recognised and encouraged, and they could be organised in different ways, with different kinds of funding and missions. If calls for a bailout are resisted, universities will not be able to continue as before. Moving their funding out of current government spending could give them greater independence and responsibility. Ultimately, there is a case for stopping the use of higher education as a validation device for employers. Alternative, lower-cost methods could be adopted to certify the qualities and abilities that a degree currently signals.