Good gods what have I started!?
I'm not saying universities are pointless, certainly they are fine institutions for academics to work in, it keeps them off the streets causing trouble.
My intended target is degrees like nursing (or radiography, but people look at me blankly when I say that's what I do so we'll gloss over that). A nurse does not need a degree to provide care for a patient (IMHO) they need an understanding of anatomy and physiology, drug calculations and such, what they do not need is to be drummed off their course if their written work is not up to standard and they cannot reference correctly according to the Harvard APA system. (Which I fundamentally believe stands for A Pile'o Arse)
I feel too many very capable, compassionate people are being lost from front line, practical, positions because they are not academic enough for the course needed to attain the professional qualification. While there is surely a need to ensure people in these front line jobs are competent and diligent in their work I'm just not sure an academic qualification is the best way the ensure that. All such course were diploma qualifications until recently, my cousin is I believe one of the last to qualify as a nurse with a diploma and radiography has been a degree since the early 90's. From the way my lecturers have spoken of their training, it seems we have lost the focus on teaching people to do, to the benefit of teaching people to write (although not necessarily think) about doing.
I'm sure you can tell I have a vested interest in this, but my off hand comment seems to have inspired a debate (or at least a squabble) so I thought I'd clarify my statement.
This essay should kill the thread nicely