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What impact is the AI crisis having on public perception of a degree’s value?

These findings from the British Social Attitudes survey are sobering:

  • 34% believe a university education ‘just isn’t worth the time and money it usually takes’, up from 14% in 2005  
  • 39% of those without a degree think this, compared with 27% of graduates  
  • 36% believe people who go to university end up being a lot better off financially, down from 50% in 2005

Unfortunately the ‘value for money’ question isn’t asked each year so we can’t do an immediate comparison with previous years. There are clearly many other factors in play here which we need to take seriously. But I think it’s plausible that the diffusion of AI is playing a role in accelerating this trend. A co-author of the recent report explicitly suggests this might be the case:

“Universities are not just education institutions; they are engines of social mobility and economic growth – and play a vital role in defining Britain’s cultural role on the world stage,” he told The Independent.

“They are also under immense financial pressure, and it appears recent debates about the fairness of student loan repayment systems and the role of AI on the job market have filtered through to people’s views about the value of a degree. If public confidence continues to fall, we risk seeing the financial situation become even worse.”

The report concludes that “while a university education has been seen as a traditional route to good job prospects and a more financially secure future, the public appears to be becoming less convinced that this promise is being fulfilled.”

There’s a potent coalition here between ‘value for money’, culture war attacks on higher education and austerity economics which could condense into something like a workable majority. In this context it’s crucial that universities are actively contributing to demonstrating ‘value for money’ (in the sense of employability and graduate outcomes) including how employer perceive the degree.

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