In the Guardian today they talk about BPP, a Not for Profits Company, which offers undergraduate and postgraduate business and law degrees at 14 UK study centres, said it was in talks about managing the business side of the universities' campuses. I have the impression, and this is just a perception that there is a great deal of waste and bureaucracy with college and university campuses. They remind me of old public sector authorities or nationalised industries where efficiencies and change were never encouraged. With the rise in fees and government cut backs they have come under the spotlight and suddenly these education monoliths are being asked to be more accountable for results and to be well run efficient businesses - sounds more and more like the Thatcher era of denationalization or privatisation. In fairness this has not been expected of them for a 100 years in many cases, so to suddenly foist this on the Universities without the necessary means and experience to handle it, is grossly unfair. However with the global financial crises, an orderly withdrawal from the past has not been possible, hence the headlines and widespread panic in the halls of academia. As such the move by BPP and others, where the motives are not all about profit, seems to make a great deal of commercial sense. I feel institutions have to change and be more accountable as a result of the huge fee inflation, this equally puts pressure on individuals, parents and schools to make or help pupils make, the right choices and at an earlier age. Errors today have massive consequences in terms of costs and is compounded with the inflexibility in the system to make changes or correct errors. WYGU was created to help with these problems and maximise your opportunities by helping you make informed decisions. In time we will also help Universities understand the job market better and improve the supply and demand with commerce which will ultimately help with their employability targets. The principle of 'Let those with sound business skills run the commerce side and those with rich academic knowledge do the educating' seems like a responsible step in the right direction.

Related Tags: WYGU, Careers, University, Univerity Fees, privatisation 

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