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Here in Australia, Gough Whitlam (Labor Party, progressive as fuck) made University Education free. That made it possible for the first time for women to go in numbers. For poor people to go, often the first in their families. For immigrants and ethnic minorities.
That generation was one of the most widely and generally educated generation in history. That would be the Boomers. (Not every individual Boomer benefited, of course, but as a cohort, they statistically totally did.)
Of course, once Gough was overthrown by a conservative coup d’état (the exact lead up and players are subject to debate, but the result was plain) for things like this, and the Medibank scheme (universal single-payer health insurance which led to Medicare, universal healthcare paid for directly by the government). It was too popular to kill directly, though, so they started nibbling away at the concept.
The Liberal Party (Tories, basically) knocked out the supports of free University education, and with the help of those same Boomers who had already gotten their free education, they pulled up the ladders just in time for my generation, Gen X, to turn up for our educations.
I do not have a university degree, nor am I ever likely to get one without superhuman effort at this point. It’s only because of an inheritance that we might be able to afford it for our children without them relying on HECS (a student loans scheme, with all that implies).
I work in a university, as professional staff in IT. I can’t tell you how much fun it is to be here, watching the increasing managerialism of the place, seeing the courses I used to daydream of taking being systematically shut down in favour of the ones which make the most profit, and/or tie in to the Government’s policy delusion du jour. Seeing how even if the course is still available, I don’t think I’ll be able to take them… certainly not until I’ve given my kids a chance to go first.
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You only quoted half the sentence. I said if you study those disciplines, you are expected to pay tuition.
Of course we need people in the humanities. The question is how much are others expected to subsidize them. Tuition, room, board, some fun money - all to pursue their own interests. Nice work if you can get it. Should we do the same for Med school or Nursing school? We need doctors and nurses, too. Maybe the answer is yes - but the question needs positing.
Wait, is the argument that some divisions – Humanities, Social Sciences – are unworthy of being valued the way Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences are?
No one ever gets a job after college unless they study STEM?
That explains a lot of our current problems. Knowing how to research and write and understand human nature requires a great deal of skill and discipline. And has applications in virtually any job. If we don’t value it, we cut ourselves off at the knees.
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I’m just asking questions about just asking questions.
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One unfortunate point is that Aimée Lê is not a British student, and thus is obliged to pay fees. Most of her fellow fellows are not in the same situation-- their studentship can cover rent and food.
Yeah, well you’re not even listening to half the room so it works out.
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Not in civilized countries. But that’s not how Amurica and Terf Island do it, and we all know they do everything correct… /s
Yet those of us who study them should not be paid a living wage for our work, nor should those of us who aren’t wealthy pursue those fields, because we should only pursue careers that pay…
Maybe we should build our society around supporting everyone within that society, rather than only allowing those of means to contribute to our culture?
Tax the rich and give everyone a proper education from pre-k all the way through to where ever they want to stop in whatever field they want to pursue. It builds a better society that way.
It’s words. Deal with it.
That’s almost always the argument now, thanks to the right wing who can’t stand to see women and minorities excel at those fields and bring a greater understanding to issues like inequality.
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*Looks at the users’ next six comments
Assessment:
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An administrator? Say no more, that explains everything
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She was awarded an annual fellowship, and fees are waived for UK students with annual fellowships but not for international students.
Lê was awarded an annual fellowship of £16,000 for three years from Royal Holloway to do her PhD on minority ethnic groups in American literature, and won an extra scholarship from the US, where she is from, in her first year. But as an international student she had to pay £8,000 a year in fees to the university (fees that have been waived for UK fellows), leaving her with £12,000 a year to live on including her wages for teaching.
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Don’t get me wrong, I love your outcome and I agree about the win-win. But let’s not kid ourselves about a shortage of English majors (myself included). 
Maybe it’s not the English majors who are the problem? Maybe a society that doesn’t value education and learning is the actual problem.
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Yeah, there seems to be a weird disconnect or dismissal of the value of knowledge and of learning how to learn going on in this thread. It doesn’t matter if you ever work in the field, IMHO, if that doesn’t end up being what you want or end up with. So there’s no way we will ever have “too many” English majors, as an example. My good friend was an english major, went on to work in childcare, pivoted to a couple different things and now runs her own business. The stuff she learned studying literature and the power of storytelling have served her at every step of the way.
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Wait! Are you trying to tell me education is MORE than just job training! Well I never… /s
But seriously… a well-rounded education is not a fucking luxury people. It’s should be the default in any democratic, inclusive society.
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I’ve read over the years that a large number of CEOs and senior politicians took undergrad and sometimes grad degrees in liberal arts faculties like history, political science, English literature, and philosophy before getting their MBAs and JDs. They often say that it made a big difference to their success despite not directly applying the degree as an educator or such. So It’s so strange how they’re never counted amongst the “too many” liberal arts majors who aren’t “using” their educations and degrees, especially when they’re white males.
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Presumably because they came from wealth, so it’s okay for them to “waste” their time with English degrees… It’s only a waste of time for the working classes, who if they are deemed worthy of a college degree, BETTER fucking be focusing on a USEFUL education that will get them employment… /s
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Or, if they want the “luxury” of a liberal arts degree, better be willing to pay through the nose even if it means they live on ramen and (getting back to the FPP) live in a tent on the street. It’s not like any of these “undeserving” people who actually want to use their degrees are destined for greatness.
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Or take out heavy loans and be in debt for the rest of their lives… those peons should stick to the kinds of education for the masses - job training, as god intended… but also they should take out loans for pay for that too. /s
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