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(guān)于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，為學生帶來更多選擇，同時捍衛(wèi)學府自治和學術(shù)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于極端，有的又不到位。對此的解釋是半吊子經(jīng)濟學的影響。例如，有觀點認為，既然競爭有好處，那么更多的競爭一定更好。還有一種觀點認為，既然大學畢業(yè)生比非大學生掙得更多，那么增加大學生數(shù)量必然帶來相應的效益增加。第一種觀點的錯誤在于市場原教旨主義。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.

在為“捍衛(wèi)英國大學協(xié)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(fā)展上的種種局限。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后，才會知道自己購買了什么。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(zhì)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。最后，政府通過根據(jù)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.

鑒于這些特點，依靠市場競爭推動高等教育幾乎必然導致扭曲的結(jié)果。英國政府的回應是成立新的監(jiān)管機構(gòu)——學生辦公室(Office for Students)。然而，除了掌握過多實權(quán)以外，該機構(gòu)會發(fā)現(xiàn)，它不可能提供有關(guān)教學質(zhì)量的可信證據(jù)。

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(chuàng)建的市場導向型大學體系——沒有數(shù)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，政策過于極端。

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.

上述計劃根植于這樣的理念：擴大學生數(shù)量將帶來巨大的經(jīng)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)在為教育政策研究所(Education Policy Institute)撰寫的一篇有關(guān)重塑高等教育的論文中所主張的，這一理念毫無依據(jù)。

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(jù)證明，大學畢業(yè)生正做著過去并不需要學歷的工作。隨著同齡人群中如今有近一半獲得學位(1970年時僅為8%)，越來越多的大學畢業(yè)生賺的錢并不比非大學畢業(yè)生多。還有多得多的大學畢業(yè)生將無法賺到足夠多的額外收入，來證明為一個三年制學位課程背上2.7萬英鎊債務是劃算的。英國經(jīng)濟也沒有顯示出大學擴招旨在帶來的生產(chǎn)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.”

認為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(diào)的結(jié)果。高等職業(yè)資格教育體系已經(jīng)崩潰。資金幾乎完全集中在大學。處在邊緣的學生除了背債之外沒有什么收獲。但是他們(以及那些未上大學的青年)幾乎沒有什么好的替代選擇。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(xiàn)行的高等教育安排正在系統(tǒng)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，這些課程給學生和雇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(jù)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，因為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(chuàng)建一種用于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(chuàng)建一套升級版的高等職業(yè)資格教育體系;這種體系在上世紀70年代存在過，但后來被放棄。學歷是一種公益。協(xié)助建立創(chuàng)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(xiàn)這些之前，大多數(shù)年輕人將尋求獲得一個學位——無論多么無用——因為他們沒有可信的、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，這并不意味著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(quán)利全民化，同時推廣一個更加多樣化、更加合用的職業(yè)資格教育體系。這在其他地方早已實現(xiàn)。為什么英格蘭不行?