The Cost of Higher Education

Those lucky enough to have received a university education for free or subsidised, in what we can now safely call the good old days, can¹t help but feel sorry for the current generation of would-be graduates.

They, in the wake of the Browne Review, stand to come out of university with debts equivalent to at least an annual salary looming over them.

From doubling, and in some cases trebling, their earnings to the simple satisfaction of having a job you love to get up for in the morning; our graduates have worked hard and reaped the fruit of their labours.

It is telling, however, that when asked, many of these successful graduates, who have proven their ability, say they could not have gone away to university.

This is a challenge we must meet head on if employers are to have a workforce which can drive their businesses forward and compete with other regions and, indeed, other nations.

Stephen Carlisle
Principal, Accrington and Rossendale College