Jesse Norman, a Conservative Member of Parliament representing Hereford and South Herefordshire, has called for the establishment of universities in towns and small cities across the United Kingdom. As shadow leader of the Commons, Norman made a concerted push for widening access to HE outside large urban areas. He argued that he has already found enough places with no university to fill 50 of them.
Norman’s advocacy comes on the heels of a recent success story at Hereford’s New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering, where the first cohort of students graduated this year. He described the institution as offering a blend of practical apprenticeship skills with the academic rigor typically associated with a master’s degree. This model, he contends, is the key to getting students ready to succeed in today’s high-demand, high-tech job market.
Smaller institutions are nimbler,” Norman said at the outset, lamenting that these kinds of educational institutions have been lost in the sauce of wider conversations about higher education. He challenged the focus on big schools. He lamented that too many of those smaller institutions have gone the way of the Dodo from our academic inheritance. Manchester Labour MP Lucy Powell has previously expressed support for this sentiment. She lauds innovative educational models like our own New Model Institute as the development drivers that open crucial doors for those of all backgrounds.
The context to Norman’s remarks are the huge storm clouds gathering over universities in the UK and beyond. In recent months, leaders at dozens of universities have declared layoffs as they seek to save money in the face of budget shortfalls. The government is still studying a suggested 6% tax on foreign students. Universities UK has raised alarms about the chilling effect that such a move would have on students’ willingness to enroll.
“These issues highlight what I think could be considered a lack of ambition in the way we’ve thought about higher education as a country over the last 50, possibly even longer, years,” Norman remarked. His remarks underscore the increasing alarm about the viability and affordability of postsecondary education amid new and disruptive economic realities.
Then university administrators have a hard challenge. In reply, Norman has suggested establishing branch universities in smaller towns to broaden educational access while invigorating the local economies. Only by improving access to higher education does he think communities will be able to effectively equip their residents with the skills needed for future jobs.
