来源：《卫报》
原文刊登日期：2021年5月30日
Around a decade has passed since David Cameron’s coalition government tripled the cap on university tuition fees to £9,000, while drastically reducing direct grants to higher education institutions in England. Conveniently for a government that made cutting the deficit its reason for existence, this manoeuvre took public spending on higher education off the books, and an accounting assumption was made that the government-backed loans would be repaid. Ten years on, there are clear signs that this funding model, and the marketised campus culture it created, is becoming dysfunctional.
十年前，戴维•卡梅伦领导的联合政府将大学学费上限提高了两倍，至9000英镑，同时大幅削减了对英格兰高等教育机构的直接拨款。对于一个以削减赤字为存在理由的政府来说，这一策略很方便，它将高等教育的公共支出移出了账目，并做出了一个会计假设，即政府支持的贷款将得到偿还。十年过去了，有明显迹象表明，这种融资模式及其创造的市场化校园文化正变得失灵。
In Whitehall, alarm bells are ringing over the distinctly low repaying rate of the student loan. Ten years ago, it was assumed that 30% of loans would be written off. The current estimate is well over 50%, costing the public purse about £1tn by 2040. Over 80% of students will never repay their loans in full. For students, the job market has not offered the earning opportunities anticipated by the architects of the loans system. Many graduates never come close to the £27,295 threshold at which repayments start.
在白厅，学生贷款的明显低还款率已经敲响了警钟。十年前，人们认为30%的贷款将被一笔勾销。目前的估计是超过50%，到2040年将花费大约1万亿英镑。超过80%的学生永远无法全额偿还贷款。对于学生来说，就业市场并没有提供当初贷款系统设计者所期望的赚钱机会。许多毕业生的年收入从未达到27295英镑的还款门槛。
As the Treasury ponders the cost implications of Boris Johnson’s “lifetime skills guarantee”, which will offer all adults four years of further education or training, a significant reform of the system is on the cards. All the options reportedly being considered carry significant downsides. Lowering tuition fees to £7,500 would be popular with students and leave the government on the hook for less. But it would deepen the debt crisis in struggling, Covid-hit institutions, many of which spent lavishly on facilities in the race to attract students. Extending the loan repayment window beyond the current 30-year limit, or lowering the income threshold for repayments, would unfairly burden a generation already faced with prohibitive housing costs and an uncertain economic future. One vice-chancellor said the coming reckoning for universities was “looking horrific”.
英国财政部正在考虑鲍里斯•约翰逊的“终身技能保证”(将为所有成年人提供4年的继续教育或培训)的实际成本，很可能对教育体系进行重大改革。据报道，所有正在考虑的选项都有显著的缺点。将学费降低到7500英镑将会受到学生们的欢迎，政府的花费也会更低。但这将加剧在新冠疫情中挣扎的院校的债务危机，许多院校为了吸引学生，在设施上花费了大量资金。第二个选项是延长贷款偿还期限，或者降低还贷的收入门槛，但这会不公地给已经面临高昂住房成本和不确定经济未来的一代人造成负担。一位校长说，即将到来的大学清算“看起来很可怕”。
Some combination of these measures seems likely to be unveiled in the comprehensive spending review this autumn. But perhaps the time has come for a deeper rethink. Universities, increasingly run as competing businesses by overpaid vice-chancellors and financial managers, have lost touch with the collegiate ethos that used to inform campus life. Crude systems of measurement have generated false incentives, leading, for example, to grade inflation. A drive to cut costs has targeted staff pay and pensions, and created an underclass of pitifully rewarded young academics on insecure short-term contracts. Strike action, currently taking place at the universities of Leicester and Liverpool, has become commonplace.
在今年秋天的全面支出审查中，这些措施的一些组合似乎可能会被公布。但也许是时候进行更深层次的反思了。大学越来越多地由薪水过高的校长和财务经理作为竞争企业来经营，而大学已经失去了过去影响校园生活的大学精神。粗糙的衡量体系产生了错误的激励，例如导致分数通货膨胀。一场削减成本的运动已经瞄准了员工的工资和养老金，并创造了一大批报酬微薄的年轻学者，他们的工作是没有保障的短期合同。目前在莱斯特大学和利物浦大学发生的罢工行动已成为司空见惯的事情。
Recasting the direct funding relationship between government and universities could help address such problems. The market model pioneered 10 years ago has begun to look dated and unsustainable. New thinking is needed.
重塑政府和大学之间的直接资助关系有助于解决这类问题。10年前开创的市场模式已开始显得过时和不可持续。我们需要新的思维。