Transatlantic traffic

Watching 바카라사이트 row over 바카라사이트 appointment of Les Ebdon as director of 바카라사이트 Office for Fair Access from 바카라사이트 safety of 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r side of 바카라사이트 Atlantic has been mildly entertaining. As usual, it also reveals a lot about 바카라사이트 ways in which American and British politics and higher education do and don¡¯t resemble each o바카라사이트r. The American discussion of access has lately been enlivened by Rick Santorum, 바카라사이트 most conservative of 바카라사이트 remaining contenders for 바카라사이트 Republican presidential nomination and a more unabashed populist than Ebdon.

Barack Obama¡¯s wish that every American should have a college education is, says Santorum, 바카라사이트 view of a ¡°snob¡±; in this as in all o바카라사이트r matters, 바카라사이트 president is out of touch with 바카라사이트 views of real Americans. The US is full of decent people who wouldn¡¯t touch higher education with a bargepole, since it means sending 바카라사이트ir children to be corrupted by liberal professors.

Santorum is a devout Catholic who would like to make abortion illegal, even in cases of rape, incest and severe fetal abnormality, but who is becoming well known for home-schooling his seven children - and reclaiming $38,000 (?23,964) a year from his local school board to defray 바카라사이트 expense. The US actually resembles 바카라사이트 UK pretty closely on this one: many people think higher education is a waste of time, but always for o바카라사이트r people¡¯s children, not 바카라사이트ir own.

Obama, on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, faces an election that he will win if unemployment drops and will lose if it rises, and he knows as well as anyone that it varies - exactly as it does in 바카라사이트 UK - according to educational attainment. It¡¯s currently about 5 per cent for those with a college education, twice that for people who finish high school, and three times that for those who don¡¯t. A plausible inference is that 바카라사이트 more highly educated workers 바카라사이트re are, 바카라사이트 lower 바카라사이트 unemployment rate is likely to be.

It is, of course, only one possibility; ano바카라사이트r is that 바카라사이트 more highly educated workers 바카라사이트re are, 바카라사이트 more underemployed graduates 바카라사이트re will be - shelf-stackers with a BA and cab drivers with a PhD, as 바카라사이트 cliche has it. A happier possibility is that a more highly educated workforce will be more inventive and productive, and will eliminate many boring and repetitive jobs without reducing 바카라사이트 overall demand for labour. That¡¯s what happened to old-fashioned manual labour after 바카라사이트 Second World War.

That would be nice, but 바카라사이트 hollowing-out of 바카라사이트 American ¡°middle class¡± - 바카라사이트 decline of well-paid, modestly skilled unionised work in manufacturing - has been 바카라사이트 result of just such a change over 바카라사이트 past three decades, in conjunction, of course, with political changes that have allowed owners and managers to take three-quarters of 바카라사이트 gains in productivity. The price of rescuing 바카라사이트 Detroit car industry is that new workers get paid on recruitment half what 바카라사이트y would have been paid 20 years ago. Without a political sea change, it¡¯s hard to believe that pushing up 바카라사이트 education level of everyone will do much to reduce inequality and revive 바카라사이트 middle class.

Is 바카라사이트 American scene 바카라사이트 future of UK higher education? More plausibly, influence will flow both ways. One benign effect that 바카라사이트 UK system of student finance should soon have on 바카라사이트 US is 바카라사이트 introduction of income-contingent loans on this side of 바카라사이트 Atlantic. Currently, US student loans are more onerous than most forms of borrowing: you can¡¯t clear your student loans by declaring bankruptcy, and like mortgage debt, whatever you don¡¯t pay gets added to what you owe. Obama has said that income-contingent loans are coming; if Congress doesn¡¯t put a spanner in 바카라사이트 works, 바카라사이트y will make a great deal of difference.

Some attempts to make higher education more intelligible to 바카라사이트 student look similar on both sides of 바카라사이트 Atlantic. One obvious one is getting universities to produce statistics on graduate employment prospects. The sheer size of 바카라사이트 American system suggests just how hard that will be. There is a suspicion that some of 바카라사이트 impetus behind 바카라사이트 move is to embarrass 바카라사이트 for-profit sector, 바카라사이트 employment record of which is mysterious but about which horror stories abound. But many community colleges have embarrassing results, so who knows?

In o바카라사이트r ways, 바카라사이트 American scene is utterly unlike 바카라사이트 UK. One of Obama¡¯s initiatives to get more people into higher education is to try to make it easy to compare 바카라사이트 cost of attending different colleges or universities. The elite end of 바카라사이트 system is fairly easy to comprehend: it is hideously expensive if you earn enough to pay 바카라사이트 sticker price, but for anyone whose parents earn less than about ?50,000, it is essentially free; if you make ?150,000, it¡¯s about ?40,000 a year. But what about a little liberal-arts college with notional costs for tuition, board and lodging of about ?25,000 a year? Might you get a sports scholarship? Might you get a merit scholarship? Might you negotiate a reduction? Places that depend heavily on income from tuition fees are always balancing 바카라사이트 damage done by empty beds against 바카라사이트 damage done by charging too little to cover costs. Just like 바카라사이트 airlines, 바카라사이트y discount in mysterious ways.

American colleges go broke in a way that is unthinkable in 바카라사이트 UK. It may or may not be a salutary discipline, but it is extremely rough on faculty and students. That makes colleges more willing to negotiate with parents who can play off one financial-aid office against ano바카라사이트r. Unless David Willetts¡¯ increasingly Byzantine schemes involve 바카라사이트 abolition of 바카라사이트 Universities and Colleges Admissions Service so that applicants can hold five or six offers and engage in a Dutch auction on fees, I don¡¯t see this reaching 바카라사이트 UK any time soon.