The economics professor Bryan Caplan raises an important question in a controversial new book, The Case Against Education. How much of the benefits of a degree comes from the skills you acquire in studying for it? And how much from the piece of paper at the end – what your degree certificate signals to employers about the skills and attributes you might have had long before you filled in a university application form?
Boosting earning potential is not the only reason we send young people to university. But to go beyond that, we need to be able to better answer the age-old question of what undergraduate education is for. A distinction is often drawn between those who see its primary purpose as the expansion of the mind that comes from learning for learning’s sake – and those who see it as providing important vocational training for specific jobs. Both traditions have a longstanding history in our system.
With the absorption of polytechnics back in the 1990s, universities have played a growing role in vocational training – and not just for professions like engineering or nursing. Universities are increasingly focusing on graduate ’employability’
Full article here – https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/16/university-degree-measure-benefits-tuition-fees
Ray Brogden, COO of Qualifi, points out that although there is and has been and to a degree, still is, a divide between the “academic” institutions and supporters and the “vocational providers” and their protagonists; a bridge between the two exists. Students and providers can avail themselves of the alternative, cost effective, flexible HE pathways that provide Vocationally Related Qualifications and a Top Up to degree option. Qualifi Awarding Organisation has L2 to L8 inclusive Vocationally Related Qualifications. Those at L3 to L6 are Advanced Learner Loan recognised and can be studied via a traditional class based delivery model or though a blended approach; accessing digital content and tutorials online via our Learning Management System /Learning Platform system.
Through collaboration with our partner Universities, access to their final year ie Top Up to honours degree from Qualifi’s L5 qualifications are available (as is top up to Masters from our L7 VRQs). Thus there is:
- a bridge between academic and vocational
- a means by which learners can access the best of both worlds
- a value for money proposition
- a flexible means of gaining a degree
- an approach that encourages widening participation
- a solution that supports none traditional learners in accessing HE
- an approach that provides employers with what they are seeking
- is an opportunity to earn while you learn
- access to learning content 24/7/365
- a way that you can stay locally and learn
- a means of avoiding the average student debt of circa £56,000 while still gaining a UK University Honours Degree
Please visit the Qualifi website to find out more about how you can become part of the “there is…” Qualifi solution. www.qualifi.net