Petition Steer University Students Towards Valued Subjects by Subsidising Only Those Courses

To encourage students to study subjects most likely to lead to useful employment and, more generally, to boost innovation, academic excellence, etc. in this country, and to steer them away from subjects with poor prospects and a low practical, academic or technological value to society, the government should selectively subsidize university courses most demanded by employers and most useful to the wider country. For example, since suitably qualified Maths and Physics teachers are in short supply, the government could work to greatly reduce fees in these subjects, targeting subsidies at courses with the best graduate employment prospects, lowest drop-out rates, best results, highest student satisfaction levels, etc. Graduates in valued and sought-after subjects who take up teaching (or other under-supplied public sector roles) could have university fees reimbursed in full (over a period). Private sector employers should also be pressed to subsidise relevant undergraduate places.