Peter Kyle, the Science Secretary, signals end to Rishi Sunak’s crackdown on ‘Mickey Mouse’ degrees

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/06/labour-ends-crackdown-mickey-mouse-degrees/

Posted by SojournerInThisVale

15 Comments

  1. ‘He said: “I don’t think the [university] sector is too big at the moment. This is the problem.

    “You wouldn’t say that about any other sector. You can’t walk down the street without passing 10 sandwich shops. Well is the UK sandwich sector too big? It’s seeped into the narrative in the last decade about higher education.”’

    Top analogy mate.

  2. Not like it matters since half of the universities are either about to collapse or merge with others.

  3. This makes sense, a lot of the so-called “Mickey mouse” degrees have much higher average earnings after uni then subjects like history.

    A lot of them seem like vaguely political attempts to discredit degrees he didn’t like.

  4. IntelligentDamage461 on

    You need mickey mouse degrees to get more students Inc International students who fund the entire university system

  5. The Tories’ attack on Mickey Mouse degrees is pretty ridiculous when most of their leading figures have BAs in the olden days when men wore frocks, storytelling, or Pomposity Profiteering and Exploitation.

  6. EdmundTheInsulter on

    Aren’t people saying that there aren’t enough students to keep the universities going and a load may go bust? That was mooted on here the other day.

  7. Square-Competition48 on

    I’m glad that this government seems to be rolling back the blatant pandering to the delusions of old people that defined the last government.

  8. hadawayandshite on

    The majority of every cabinet of government going back decades and decades all have degrees in history, ppe, politics, English and what not

    Anyone got a definitive list of what is Mickey Mouse and what isn’t?

  9. Come on be honest. You know the tories want more poor thick people with no education to vote for them.

  10. Thorazine_Chaser on

    Politician dodging the difficult questions again.

    If universities, like sandwich shops, used no public money, put no young people in debt, went out of business as fast when they delivered poor product and didn’t distort the labour market I would agree with him. Of course all those things make his analogy ridiculous and he is a ridiculous man.

    We do have tertiary education problem. Partly due to over reliance on overseas students in the face of anti immigration sentiment, partly due to poor management and oversight, partly due to inflation of degrees in fields where we don’t have productive capacity to use, and partly due to the genuine changing demands on higher education from academic to vocational in the STEM fields.

    All very difficult issues so I see why a politician would rather pretend it’s a sandwich shop and get out of the interview.

  11. ARedditAccount001 on

    DO NOT take away MY opportunity to study a BA in Fortnite Cat Litter Studies at Middlesex University!

  12. Ordinary_Delay_8145 on

    Let people study what they want to. The UK is a major export of culture and universities help creative people learn the skills they need to succeed. Sunak was just trying to clamp down on what he saw as “training grounds for artsy lefty’s”

  13. We need to crack down hard on universities ripping off students and not delivering on their contractual obligations

  14. Anyone who questions the validity of learning something you’re interested in for the love of learning is simply uneducated.

    But it works for right wing governments to crack down on subjects that promote creativity and critical thinking because these skills help people become aware of their surroundings and more understanding and tolerant of others.