We learn in this Daily Mail article that the government in Britain is bribing universities to take very weak students.

Why? “Ministers say the target of getting 50 per cent of 18 to 30 year-olds into higher education is needed to equip more workers with high level skills.”

There’s that demented notion again — that government planners know the right percentage of people to lure into higher ed.

At least there is some dissent. “Critics are increasingly questioning the quality of some courses and asking whether university is always the best way of acquiring such skills. . . . They also warn that growing numbers are recruiting students with poor grades, casting doubt on their aptitude for degree-level studies.”

Exactly. The Brits should learn from our unhappy experience of overexpanding higher ed.