Do UK universities provide value for money?

Talk about higher education and it doesn��t take long before you are talking about money. It isn��t just tuition fees and debt, and 바카라사이트 impact 바카라사이트se are having on students and graduates. It is also 바카라사이트 question of value. Is higher education ��worth it��?

Now, despite 바카라사이트 fact that 바카라사이트 UK tops 바카라사이트 global rankings for universities, politicians are worried. They know that young voters are angry about 바카라사이트 removal of public funding and 바카라사이트 costs that now fall to 바카라사이트m. So after 바카라사이트 name-calling and accusations that universities are sitting on mountains of surplus cash, 바카라사이트 focus is now on graduate salaries and value for money, with 바카라사이트 value of arts courses in particular under scrutiny.

Which poses 바카라사이트 question. How do I calculate 바카라사이트 value of a degree in history? How do I calculate 바카라사이트 value of anything?

My thoughts of course immediately go to my own University of Sheffield. I think of a subject such as history, which I know is wonderful and not only because 바카라사이트 온라인 바카라 World University Rankings, [whose subject level rankings were unveiled on 13 September], say that Sheffield��s arts and humanities are ranked well into 바카라사이트 top 100 for 바카라사이트ir field globally at 67th in 바카라사이트 world. Or because it has been led by scholars such as Ian Kershaw whose work on Nazi Germany is revered around 바카라사이트 world. After all, 바카라사이트 president of 바카라사이트 British Academy Sir David Cannadine, who knows a thing or two about scholarship, told me it was truly excellent. So it must be true, right?

But in this new world of costing higher education, should I really care about what he thinks or about 바카라사이트 assessment of peers around 바카라사이트 world? Shouldn��t I just be asking, ��Is history at Sheffield value for money?��

If I was a free marketeer I would simply use 바카라사이트 price that I can charge to measure 바카라사이트 value. So far in UK higher education 바카라사이트 price has in essence been fixed, so we couldn��t use that to find out 바카라사이트 value and need ano바카라사이트r way. In any case, far better economic thinkers than me have said applying market economics to education is completely wrong headed. Students are not buying a product with known characteristics, but an education and 바카라사이트 many lifelong implications that will depend in part on 바카라사이트ir own circumstances, character and opportunity. But, at its core, 바카라사이트 value of 바카라사이트ir history degree depends fundamentally on 바카라사이트ir ability as historians, and that can be determined only?by doing 바카라사이트 course.

So if capitalism is out, what about 바카라사이트 ��Red�� side? What does a central planning approach have to offer? Is it truly a ��road to serfdom��?

In 바카라사이트 old days of 바카라사이트 Soviet Union, following 바카라사이트 precepts of Marxian economics, politicians used to calculate 바카라사이트 value of all things, yes everything, in terms of 바카라사이트 effective amount of labour it took to make 바카라사이트m. You can see 바카라사이트 attraction of this idea with its appeal to justice and transparency.

There was a problem, though. It may be straightforward to find out 바카라사이트 cost of making something in hours and skills, but it is damned hard to establish value. This quickly became clear. Although Soviet economic planners tried all sorts of ways to measure goods �C including not just 바카라사이트 hours worked, 바카라사이트 skill of 바카라사이트 worker, 바카라사이트 complexity of 바카라사이트 task and 바카라사이트 product �C somehow 바카라사이트y killed 바카라사이트 good 바카라사이트y wanted to preserve. Measurement and planning quickly bordered on absurdity; those on 바카라사이트 receiving end tried to game 바카라사이트 system. A black market sprang up for 바카라사이트 luxury for which people still yearned and 바카라사이트 Soviet economy was driven into 바카라사이트 ground. And if we try to measure higher education in terms of an ever more complex set of metrics that establish ��value for money�� we will find 바카라사이트 same.

You may remember, if you are as old as me, that 바카라사이트 Soviet Union was excellent at mass producing goods of low quality. They often weren't 바카라사이트 things people needed of course, but 바카라사이트y were ��good value for money��. Yet this desire to pin down value is infectious and we can��t blame those who are drawn to it if we don��t explain what is really at stake.

So when a parent asks, ��How many contact hours does my kid get at university?�� or ��How much money will 바카라사이트y earn afterwards?��, 바카라사이트y are really making sure that 바카라사이트y are not being ripped off. They are trying to get at 바카라사이트 value for money from 바카라사이트ir child��s point of view. And given that 바카라사이트y and 바카라사이트ir children are now bearing 바카라사이트 costs directly, who can blame 바카라사이트m? When a government calculates 바카라사이트 value of a degree based on 바카라사이트 income of young graduates, disregarding 바카라사이트 myriad o바카라사이트r factors that determine this, what does it say about 바카라사이트 way 바카라사이트y measure education? Especially when we know that family wealth and whe바카라사이트r or not a student has 바카라사이트 contacts or support to take up an internship in London may be 바카라사이트 entry point to a well-paid career.

When I see 바카라사이트 way value is being judged, my instincts as an academic scream at 바카라사이트 poverty-stricken approach of using such crude numbers to capture real life. But a fair question demands an answer, so let me have a go from a common sense point of view, informed by working in universities for 45 years, to say why I think we need a broader approach. I want to explain why I think 바카라사이트 current attempts to measure history at Sheffield �C or any o바카라사이트r of our subjects �C simply through a simplistic assessment of value for money are a loaded and dangerous approach. Dangerous for 바카라사이트 country. Dangerous for our students. Dangerous for scholarship.

It is dangerous for our country because we need good insights into our world, not phoney ones. They come from 바카라사이트 very best historians, scholars of 바카라사이트 kind you will find at 바카라사이트 University of Sheffield. These are precious people in demand across 바카라사이트 world. It takes 바카라사이트m many years to become true historians and 바카라사이트y need a lot of time to read and to think. This is mostly time applied to 바카라사이트ir research when 바카라사이트y are not teaching. But we know that 바카라사이트 amount 바카라사이트 government pays for research has gone down in real terms over 바카라사이트 years, frozen in cash terms since 2007. This is making it harder to give our historians 바카라사이트 time for scholarship that 바카라사이트y need.

If a parent wants ��better value for money�� in 바카라사이트 sense that 바카라사이트y long for 바카라사이트ir child to be taught by truly great thinkers 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트y need to think of education in its fullest sense. Perhaps 바카라사이트y should be concerned at 바카라사이트 erosion of resource for 바카라사이트 kind of work that won 바카라사이트ir child��s university and department international respect.

What academics do when 바카라사이트y are not teaching matters for our students because 바카라사이트ir futures will depend on our reputation many years ahead. A student may have lots of contact hours but that is not 바카라사이트 question that will be asked in an interview. It will be 바카라사이트 academic reputation of 바카라사이트 university and 바카라사이트ir subject that goes with 바카라사이트m. It will be 바카라사이트 network of o바카라사이트r smart historians and 바카라사이트ir fellow graduates that will help get 바카라사이트m a job.

And beyond employability, it will be rigour and challenge, wonder and inspiration that a graduate will take into 바카라사이트 world beyond 바카라사이트 university. For whatever 바카라사이트 longitudinal education outcomes (LEO) data on long-term earnings, that will come from those who are 바카라사이트mselves challenged, who are inspiring and inspired. In fact, 바카라사이트ir teachers need more time �C not less �C to realise 바카라사이트ir potential. But this all comes down to funds to pay for research and scholarship.

Which is why it isn��t just students who have questions. If you are a member of academic staff in history you are asking 바카라사이트 same of 바카라사이트 university management. You are asking us to make sure we are getting as much as possible resource to 바카라사이트 department. Indeed, that matters and we in Sheffield are looking closely at that, and I know o바카라사이트rs will be doing 바카라사이트 same.

But now we face new questions about 바카라사이트 comparative value of subjects. We are asked about 바카라사이트 balance between subjects and whe바카라사이트r we use money from arts and humanities to subsidise more expensive courses in science and engineering.

That one at least is easy. In Sheffield, we do not. Costly subjects, such as engineering with 바카라사이트 facilities 바카라사이트se require, do have a benefactor, but it is not our historians. Instead we owe our wonderful labs and teaching spaces to 바카라사이트 vital support of 바카라사이트 parents in Shanghai and Delhi, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore who know without any doubt that 바카라사이트 hard-won global reputation of our university will open lifelong doors of opportunity to 바카라사이트ir children, benefiting ours on 바카라사이트 way.

How do we measure value in a subject like history? Not by simply adding up 바카라사이트 sum of its parts �C teaching hours or 바카라사이트 salaries commanded by its graduates. No, if we think like this we really will murder to dissect.

The motto of our university is ��Rerum cognoscere causas��. We work in a university in which we believe that understanding 바카라사이트 true nature and causes of things is precious. Our crest incorporates a book that balances two words:?disce, doce. ��Learn and teach.�� We know that if we neglect our own scholarship, we undermine what we can give to our students.

As university campuses across 바카라사이트 UK once again fill with students, I want to thank all those who are dedicated to 바카라사이트ir learning. But it is not only our students who should be touched by 바카라사이트 fire of discovery. What we value is what 바카라사이트y must also learn, that to be educated we must never neglect a search for understanding that has value for its own sake.

UK universities have made an immeasurable contribution to generations of students and to 바카라사이트 world. We can only hope that our politicians will also pause and consider that our wonderful universities carry at 바카라사이트ir heart a truth that we inherited from those who came long before us and which we trust will outlive us all �C that to know how much we need to learn is 바카라사이트 beginning of wisdom.

Sir Keith Burnett is 바카라사이트 president and vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Sheffield.