40%of the population with a bachelor's degree by 2025, as opposed to 8% in the early 1990's? It raises the question of whether a university education makes us smarter as a nation or if it means we just have too many people educated beyond their intellectual capacity? I suspect the latter.

There is never any good reason to dumb down the population by restricting University places.

We are still a democratic country as far as I am aware, so if people want to go to Uni and do a course of their choice, and pay for it themselves, then fair enough.

If, at the end of their course, they can't find the job of their choice, then any new knowledge will always set them up well for whatever they do.

...Too many people with unsustainable expectations estelles. I think this article cogs nicely into another on this site by Malcolm King: "At the barricades - Boomers vs Gen Y", and gives additional reasoning to Kings theory of generational resentment.

I think we overrate the benefits of university degrees. How often I hear no HSC no future, no degree no future. What about the value of apprenticeship trades and garbage collectors - they all contribute to society. Don't we want diversity? We do not need more useless and overeducated and institutionalised people. So many university graduates never pursue their field of study - what a waste. And I see a lot of clones who are unable to look outside the square - I see these young graduates in the workplace and they are hopeless, and have very poor people and managing skills, and only go by the book and what they are told to do.

There is a dumbing down at our universities today which I believe has been overtaken by the leftist academics and freedom of speech and academic freedom has been compromised. There is much administrative bureaucracy taking over and the quality of education is going down, particularly with the high intake of foreign students who are actually buying their degrees through fraud.

Most people are not meant for academia. I believe it should actually be more elitist, and not so money wasting.

There is a book out at the moment called "Whackademia" - an account by an insider by the name of Dr Richard Hil which I believe explains this. I have not yet read it.

...Suseonline; where is the sense in sustaining an education system with scarce public funds, exhibiting such huge drop-out rates as the University?

...The role of the University is to educate the educable not entertain under-performers! Huge resources could be redirected to more useful roles if this simple fact were honestly grasped by Politicians keen to win votes from a “duped” public!

Don't worry Sukrit, each time Labor get into power, they sweep up all those over educated twits, & give them nice over paid, under worked jobs in the bureaucracy.

Think of it as a safety measure. You wouldn’t want most of them doing something serious like putting a washer in your tap, or god forbid, wiring the electrical system in your house, now would you?

If we didn’t have this system to keep all the impractical, & incompetent off the streets, we would have unemployment statistics like Spain & Greese, & that looks so untidy.