Public have no idea of value of top universities – Study

Manchester United and Greggs’ famous sausage rolls are no match for the financial firepower of Britain’s leading universities, despite many members of the public thinking otherwise, according to research, reports Richard Adams for The Guardian.

The study by King’s College London’s Policy Institute revealed that many people have a string of misperceptions about the higher education sector, ranging from its size to the lucrative career boost it gives graduates. The survey of 2,000 people found many picked Greggs and Manchester United as bigger earners than the likes of the University of Oxford, when the balance sheets show that Oxford takes in over £1 billion (US$1.35 billion) more than Greggs each year.

Professor Bobby Duffy, the director of KCL’s Policy Institute, said the results showed that the public is being influenced by “negative rhetoric” about university education and its costs, even if most parents remained positive about their children going into higher education.
Full report on The Guardian site