Inappropriate education of graduates

The value of many degrees is suspect. Many rarely make significant intellectual demands on students or provide important technical skills. Recipients of higher degrees frequently find their prolonged education in narrowing disciplines in a sheltered environment to be of little practical value. They are also finding that tertiary education is now commonplace and, except for those from prestige universities, there is no guarantee that they have received a high-quality education and credentials that make them able to be employed. This leads to disillusionment and reduces the enthusiasm of those pursuing specialized fields of knowledge. Such graduates are then obliged to accept jobs for which they are inadequately or over-trained.

There is some confusion between the terms "education" and "training". Education involves a widening of the individual's horizons whereas training implies the learning of specific facts. The aim of university education, as is inherent in the name "university", is the providing of a universal basis. Those who wish to be trained in a particular specialization or for a particular profession are free to take this type of training.