Are degrees worth the paper they're printed on?

An article on the Independents Web Site, Are degrees worth the paper they're printed on?
got me thinking.

While I am all in favour of education and believe that as many people as possible should receive some kind of further education after 18, I feel that the continued expansion of the University system is a bad idea that helps nobody.

Going back 20 years or so Universities had a clear purpose. They were all about academic knowledge for its own sake. Both in teaching and research they concentrated on pure knowledge for its own sake rather than being constrained by the needs of industry or other political factors. In parallel to this there were Polytechnics. These had simularities to Universities in that they were involved in research and taught degrees and various post graduate qualifications. The difference however was that Polytechnics were much more about knowledge as a means to an end rather than for its own sake. They courses concentrated on looking at how the pure knowledge dealt with by Universities could be applied in the real world.

This dual system left both Universities and Polytechnics with a clear role. Universites were all about pure knowledge. They were independent of industrial and political concerns and gave degrees that were particularly suitable for those planning to pursue an academic career. Polytechnics were more responsive to the needs of industry, concentrated on more applied research and gave degrees that were more suited to those planning a career in industry.

Of course there were things wrong with this system. In particular Polytechnics were very much seen as second best, only attracting those people whose grades were not good enough to get them into a University. I do however feel that the system should have been reformed, rather than scrapped.

The current system is that Polyechnics are now known as 'new' universities. This has been bad for both the new and old universities and for the students attending both. New Universities are just as much seen as a second-class tier as the old Polytechnics were only now they have to compete more directly with the Old universties for funds and students. At the same time I think the old universities have come under increased pressure to make their research and degree courses more relevent to industry.