Adult education the loser in a game only young, full-time students win

By Peter Scott. Part-time student numbers have collapsed as older, less privileged learners become victims of university commercialisation. Universities sometimes seem to have few political friends — unlike their debt-laden students. It is not hard to tell why. It is not only that individuals have the vote and institutions don’t. At times university leaders give the impression that all they care about is hanging on to the extra cash that higher fees have generated, even if this means their graduates face a lifetime of debt and the government has to pick up the bill for those who never repay their loans in full (and other public services have to suffer even greater cuts as a result). More...