Degree of the future?

The government’s recent proposal for fast-track degrees has led to outcry from university staff and students throughout Britain.
If put in place, traditional three-year courses for subjects such as English and Music would be reduced to two years. Students on such degrees would have shorter vacation periods with long distance learning in the summer months with study materials being made available online.
It is hoped these measures will enable government ministers to achieve their target of having 50% of young people in higher education by this year. As such, the proposed two-year courses are targeted at potential students who are put off by the high tuition and accommodation fees presented by three years of study at university.
Government officials argue that reduced time in higher education will enable students to enter the workplace more quickly and with less debt. However, it remains to be seen if these financial ‘gains’ are matched by the value of the fast-track degree and the student’s overall university experience.
An increase in students attending such courses would lead to a significant growth in class sizes and create more work for already under-paid and over-worked lecturers. Critics have also questioned whether the subject matter covered would be as thorough as the traditional three-year course.
With redbrick universities unwilling to introduce the condensed degrees, it is foreseeable that a ‘two-tier’ degree system will develop, potentially stigmatising students on such ‘accessible’ courses.  Although education ministers continue to refute the devaluation of fast-track degrees, it is undeniable that students on the two-year courses will be unable to be as heavily involved in university activities as their peers.
This could have negative repercussion in today’s highly competitive workplace with employers seeking well-rounded and academically successful individuals, not fresh-faced youths clutching a piece of paper in hand. It appears that the targets of fast-track courses need to be reconsidered.
The two-year degree’s appeal seems more applicable to mature students re-training for the workplace, not young students who have academic and life learning to do.