Absent better state secondary schools, universities may have to take radical measures: Cambridge is considering a foundation year for students who show potential but are ill prepared. A review of the government-imposed cap on tuition fees, due next year, may also help. The current limit of £3,300 ($5,926), which nearly all universities are up against, is so low that many lose money on teaching. A higher cap would allow greater differentiation, thus helping to remove another flaw: the pretence that a degree of a particular class (a first, say) from one university is equivalent to the same class from any other.
因為缺乏良好的高中,各高校可能會采取較徹底措施,比如,劍橋大學如今在籌劃給那些資質優良但基礎薄弱的學生專門設立基礎學年。另外,將于明年將會重新 審查對高校學費實施限額的規定,這可能也會起到一定作用。所有高校幾乎都反對現行限額:3300英鎊(亦即5926美元)。學費低的連支付教師工資都不 夠。提高限額將有利于學校分化,這樣一來就可以解決另一個問題:再不會有人謊稱從一所大學一個班上(比方說優秀班級)拿到的學位跟另外一所大學相同班級所 得學位沒有差別了。
So all is not lost—yet—in the battle for quality in what will be on offer to future freshers. But “more” could still mean “worse” if the jobs market is flooded with graduates. The Confederation of British Industry worries this is the case: on September 17th it launched a task-force to consider not only whether the wrong sort of graduates are being turned out but also whether supply risks outstripping demand.
這樣就可以盡量確保將來的大學生們所得的教學質量。但是如果職場里大學畢業生過多,那么越多可能還是意味著越糟。英國工業聯合會對此十分擔憂,于是在9月17號開展了一項調查以確定高校是否在輸出社會不需要的畢業生,以及人才的供給是否超出了社會的需求。
This is likely to be what concerns students most. A survey released on September 11th by Sodexo, an education-outsourcing company, found that for more than half of them the prime reason for pursuing a degree was to improve job or salary prospects, or that they had to for their chosen profession. Only 9% wanted to increase their knowledge of an area of interest.
該情況可能是學生所最為關心的。據一家教育外包公司Sodexo9月11日公布的一項調查顯示,超過一半的大學生表示,繼續深造主要是為了好工作以及高薪或者是由于本專業要求;然而只有9%的受訪者表示為了能在感興趣的領域學習更多知識。
At first glance, the earnings uplift looks worthwhile. An estimate in 2006 suggested that in purely financial terms a degree produced the same lifetime-income stream as giving an 18-year-old with two A-levels £160,000 to invest. But cracks are appearing in the “graduate premium”. For one thing, it varies immensely by field of study (see chart): men with arts degrees can expect to earn less than if they had skipped university entirely. (The relative returns for graduate women are higher not because they earn more than men but because less-qualified women earn very little.) For another, its value is increasingly dependent on the detail.
上表乍看上去,受過高等教育的人收入長的多。2006年有人估計,從純粹經濟角 度看,一個學位所能帶來的終生收益相當于一個18歲青年獲得32萬投資資金所獲的受益。但是這種“學位增值說”也有漏洞:首先,這種增值在不同領域差別巨 大(見上表),對于擁有藝術學科學位的男子而言,如果他們當初沒有接受高等教育,他們拿得錢應該會多一些。(對于女性畢業生而言,她們的回報比男性多一 些,然而她們并不是比男性賺的多,僅僅是因為受教育程度低的女性的收入太低。)另外,學位的價值大不大與其具體內容關系越來越大。
Robin Naylor, at Warwick University, has found that the average return to a degree has held up well over the past 20 years, but it has become more variable: the university now matters greatly, as does the degree class. “The penalty for not having a degree is high, but the penalty for getting the wrong one can be even higher,” he says. And Francis Green, of Kent University, has discovered that in 2006 a third of graduates were working in jobs that did not require a degree, up from a quarter in 2001; they earned a third less than those who were using their degrees.
沃里克大學的Robin Naylor研究發現,過去二十年里學位的回報水平一直不錯,但是現在的情況變因更多:從哪一所大學畢業以及學習課程等等。“沒有學位的人在社會里會很吃 虧,但是如果拿的學位不對可能會更吃虧。”他說道。肯特大學的Francis Green則發現,2001年有四分之一的大學畢業生在不需要學位的地方工作,到2006年則增加到三分之一,他們比那些靠自己學位賺錢的人工資少三分之 一。
It is too late for this year’s freshers to reconsider their university careers; but what should next year’s batch do? Those who are in it for the money should be ruthless about what they study and where—and then be sure to work hard and get good marks. Or they could throw away the calculator and follow their hearts. “It’s a big risk, going to university, much bigger than it used to be,” says Mr. Naylor. “But if you study something you like, then even if you don’t earn so much, there is a better chance you’ll work in a field you love.”
今年的大學新生們現在再重新考慮專業選擇有點遲了,但是明年的新生該怎么辦?對于那些為了以后收入而讀大學的人來說,他們必須非常明確自己要學什么以及 在哪兒學,然后就要勤學習,拿高分。或者也可以拋卻精打細算,隨性而為。Naylor先生有言,“現在讀大學比以前的風險大得多,但是如果你學習的專業是 自己的興趣所在,那么將來盡管你掙的錢不多,但是你更有可能在你喜歡的領域里工作。”