University graduate Pok Wong, is a 29-year-old student from Hong Kong who graduated from Anglia Ruskin University with a first-class degree in international business strategy. According to Wong, her two years of study left her with a ‘Mickey Mouse’ degree that has in no way helped her career. So, she is suing the university for breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation regarding ‘quality education and prospect of employment after graduation’. If successful, the case could have real implications in the way universities promote their courses. Wong, who now resides in London, has claimed that ‘since graduating it has been proven that the degree does not play a role to help secure a rewarding job with prospects’. After being left with £60,000 in debt she is now suing the university in order to recuperate her money, stating that lecturers arrived late for lessons and instructed students to ‘self-study’.
As student dish out as much as £9,000 per year on tuition alone to be able to access higher education, the promises made by courses are increasingly relevant and important. Should courses promote stellar prospects of employment after graduation, for example, and then not be able to employ their students? Or should it be the students job to, well, get a job? Are universities really responsible for making sure all their students are in employment after they graduate? Are connections and who you know more important than a university course in the search for a job?
Well, if you’re wondering if you are getting your money’s worth when it comes to your degree, the government’s new system is here to help you figure that out. The new ranking system will give individual subjects at university a bronze, silver or gold rating based on student feedback, drop-out rates and graduate outcomes. The system is an extension of the government’s Teaching Excellence Framework which has placed some of the UK’s most prestigious universities, like the London School of Economics, at the bottom of its ranking. Universities minister Sam Gyimah said that ‘prospective students deserve to know which courses deliver great teaching and great outcomes – and which ones are lagging behind’. Gyimah also stated that ‘In the age of the student, universities will no longer be able to hide if their teaching quality is not up to the world-class standard that we expect.’ The system will be set into place by autumn of 2019, but won’t be able to be used by students deciding in their prospective course until 2020.
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.