大學教育不能靠市場競爭

The UK government’s bill on higher education is under fierce examination in the House of Lords. The government argues in its defence that it “will drive up the standard of teaching at universities, deliver greater competition and choice for students, while safeguarding institutional autonomy and academic freedom”. It is more likely to deliver the reverse.

英國政府關於高等教育的法案正在上議院接受嚴格審查。政府方面辯稱，該法案“將提升大學教學水平，形成更大競爭，爲學生帶來更多選擇，同時捍衛學府自治和學術自由”。但實際上，該法案更有可能帶來反效果。

The proposals manage to be both too radical and not radical enough. The explanation for this is the influence of half-baked economics. One example is the idea that, since competition is good, more competition must be better. Another example is the idea that, since graduates earn more than non-graduates, raising their numbers must deliver a matching rise in benefits. The first error is market fundamentalism. The second is the fallacy of composition.

這些政策建議有的過於極端，有的又不到位。對此的解釋是半吊子經濟學的影響。例如，有觀點認爲，既然競爭有好處，那麼更多的競爭一定更好。還有一種觀點認爲，既然大學畢業生比非大學生掙得更多，那麼增加大學生數量必然帶來相應的效益增加。第一種觀點的錯誤在於市場原教旨主義。第二種錯在以偏概全。

I sought to explain the limits of market competition in guiding higher education in a lecture delivered to the Council for the Defence of British Universities. A market in university education suffers from five defects.

在爲“捍衛英國大學協會”(Council for the Defence of British Universities)所做的一次講座中，我力圖解釋市場競爭在引導高等教育發展上的種種侷限。大學教育市場化受到五種缺陷的影響。

First, consumers do not know what they have bought until well after they have bought it. Second, the most important information is the reputation of the institution. Third, the price charged is a decisive signal of quality. Fourth, the failure of providers destroys the value of its qualifications. Finally, the government rightly takes much of the risk, via income-contingent loans.

首先，消費者要等到買下很久之後，纔會知道自己購買了什麼。其次，最重要的信息是大學的名氣。第三，所收學費價格是教育質量的決定性指標。第四，教育提供方的失敗會破壞其所授學歷的價值。最後，政府通過根據收入償還學生貸款的政策，正確地承擔了大部分風險。

Given these features, reliance on market competition to drive this sector is almost sure to lead to perverse results. The government’s answer is a new regulator — the Office for Students. Yet this body, apart from being far too powerful, will find it impossible to provide credible evidence on teaching quality.

鑑於這些特點，依靠市場競爭推動高等教育幾乎必然導致扭曲的結果。英國政府的迴應是成立新的監管機構——學生辦公室(Office for Students)。然而，除了掌握過多實權以外，該機構會發現，它不可能提供有關教學質量的可信證據。

The proposed creation of a market-driven university system, with no limits on numbers, no minimum qualifications on entry and government-backed loans is a disaster waiting to happen. In this respect, the Policy is too radical.

擬議創建的市場導向型大學體系——沒有數量限制，沒有最低入學資格要求，卻有政府支持的貸款——將是一場必然降臨的災難。就此而言，政策過於極端。

The root of this plan is the idea that expanding student numbers will bring huge economic benefits. Yet, as Alison Wolf of King’s College London (my wife) argues in a paper on Remaking Tertiary Education for the Education Policy Institute, this is unjustified.

上述計劃根植於這樣的理念：擴大學生數量將帶來巨大的經濟效益。但是，正如我的妻子、倫敦大學國王學院(King's College London)的艾莉森?沃爾夫(Alison Wolf)在爲教育政策研究所(Education Policy Institute)撰寫的一篇有關重塑高等教育的論文中所主張的，這一理念毫無依據。

Ample evidence exists of graduates doing jobs that used not to need degrees. With close to half of the age cohort now acquiring degrees (up from 8 per cent in 1970), a rising number of graduates fails to earn more than non-graduates. Far more of them will not earn enough extra to justify a debt of ￡27,000 for a three-year degree. The economy also shows no sign of the surge in productivity that the huge rise in graduation rates was intended to create.

有大量證據證明，大學畢業生正做着過去並不需要學歷的工作。隨着同齡人羣中如今有近一半獲得學位（1970年時僅爲8%），越來越多的大學畢業生賺的錢並不比非大學畢業生多。還有多得多的大學畢業生將無法賺到足夠多的額外收入，來證明爲一個三年制學位課程背上2.7萬英鎊債務是划算的。英國經濟也沒有顯示出大學擴招旨在帶來的生產率大幅提高的跡象。

The belief that the university degree is the only tertiary qualification that matters has had other dysfunctional results. The system of tertiary-level vocational qualifications has collapsed. Funding is concentrated almost entirely on universities. Marginal students gain little but debts. But they (and those who do not attend university) have few good alternatives. As Professor Wolf puts it, “Far from equalising opportunity?.?.?.?, our current tertiary arrangements work systematically against it.”

認爲大學學歷是唯一重要高等教育學歷的信念，還帶來了其他功能失調的結果。高等職業資格教育體系已經崩潰。資金幾乎完全集中在大學。處在邊緣的學生除了揹債之外沒有什麼收穫。但是他們（以及那些未上大學的青年）幾乎沒有什麼好的替代選擇。正如倫敦大學國王學院的艾莉森教授指出的，“非但沒有讓機會均等……，我們現行的高等教育安排正在系統化地阻礙機會均等。”

It does not have to be this way. Many European countries, notably including Austria, Germany and the Netherlands, have well-respected non-degree tertiary qualifications that deliver substantial benefit to students and employees. England seems unique in the extent to which this provision has been allowed to collapse. Yet there is clear evidence of market demand for such skills. But little or no incentive exists to meet that demand, because government support is so skewed toward universities.

其實不必如此。許多歐洲國家（尤其是奧地利、德國和荷蘭）都有受尊敬的非學位高等學歷教育，這些課程給學生和僱員帶來了巨大的好處。在讓這一級的教育體系崩潰方面，英格蘭似乎是獨一無二的。然而，有明確證據證明此類技能的市場需求。但很少或根本不存在對滿足這種需求的激勵，因爲政府支持如此向大學傾斜。

In this respect, the policy on higher education is not nearly radical enough. A good reform would create a universal entitlement to borrow for tertiary education, which could be used over a lifetime, subject to an upper age limit.

就此而言，高等教育政策根本不到位。好的改革將創建一種用於接受高等教育的全民借款資格（可設定一個年齡上限）。

The government would also create an updated set of tertiary vocational qualifications equivalent to those that existed in the 1970s, but were then destroyed. Qualifications are a public good. It is government’s job to help establish procedures for creating them.

政府還應創建一套升級版的高等職業資格教育體系；這種體系在上世紀70年代存在過，但後來被放棄。學歷是一種公益。協助建立創造學歷的程序是政府的工作。

Until these things happen, most young people will seek to gain a degree, however useless, because there is no credible and adequately funded alternative. We are moving into a world in which tertiary education of some kind will be almost universal.

在實現這些之前，大多數年輕人將尋求獲得一個學位——無論多麼無用——因爲他們沒有可信的、有充足資金支持的其他選擇。我們正在步入一個某些高等教育將幾乎普及的世界。

Yet that does not mean everyone should do a three-year degree. A radical government would universalise the entitlement, but promote a more diverse and appropriate set of qualifications. This happens elsewhere. Why not in England?

然而，這並不意味着每個人都應該攻讀一個三年制學位課程。一個激進的政府會讓這種權利全民化，同時推廣一個更加多樣化、更加合用的職業資格教育體系。這在其他地方早已實現。爲什麼英格蘭不行？