Fixing Tertiary Education

The New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering

Any graduate can tell you that University is flawed.

This is especially true in the humanities but also extends to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths). Students have minimal contact hours with little knowledge crossover to real jobs (it’s often an excuse to have fun for a couple years).

I can attest to that; whilst working directly in my field of study—many don’t; 46% of US grads work in their field of study—I don't actually use a huge amount of my degree in my daily job. This is because, cynically, a bachelor's degree is simply a piece of paper that is the cost of doing business.

This is known in economics as ‘signalling’ and is a theory developed by Michael Spence. By acquiring an education, you send a signal to employers that you are a more capable employee—Where as employers will use education as a simple way to screen potentially less productive workers, but also as a way to compensate productive workers more (Think of the influence an MBA has on most people’s careers).

Therefore, for a person wanting to be employed, a degree is mandatory irrespective of the content of the education.

This in my opinion is a tragedy, as it both devalues education from being the pursuit of knowledge to essentially being a diploma mill. But it also places emphasis on employers to train new grads at huge cost.

This is bigger problem in the humanities but STEM degrees are becoming slowly watered down with more emphasis on theory instead of the practical (Medical degrees seem to be the last bastion of a highly valuable education).

This is where new Education Institutions come in. The one I am most familiar with is the New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering—shortened to NMITE.

NMITE is a new university in Hereford that focuses on providing high-quality, practical, career-oriented degrees.

NMITE is radically different from the typical university experience. The students work 9-5, 46 weeks a year, in group environments working on projects set by industrial and community partners. This helps condense a Master's of Engineering degree into 3 years.

The university is focused on high value add and, as a result, looks at a person holistically instead of requiring Maths and Physics A-Levels. Take, for instance, your average entrance to a top-tier university such as Cambridge. Their entry requirements are two A* and an A—The students are already elite talents, the additional value that Cambridge can add is limited; the University is essentially acting as a signaller of their elite nature.

However, NMITE is different; every student has their own unique story around their background. As NMITE describes it themselves:

"Our students come from all walks of life, from all over the UK, and each has their own story to tell. Some come from traditional academic backgrounds, some come from previous experience in industry. Some have A-level Maths and Physics. Some don't. Some started their journey on what they thought was the right career path for them, before discovering engineering, and NMITE. Others began their studies at a more traditional university, found it wasn't right for them, and switched to our unique model of hands-on learning."

This is where NMITE really comes into its own. The university is focused on high value add, they take someone who may never have been an engineer and provide a top tier education suited towards the modern working environment. The result of which is they are ready to work from the moment they graduate.

This is already bearing fruit. NMITE’s first cohort graduated this July, and they have all walked into jobs in firms such as Balfour Beatty, KIER, Mondelēz International, and Oakwrights.

Now, of course, I have an interest to declare. NMITE is in the constituency I work for and my boss is the new Chair of the Organisation.

But I truly think NMITE has the potential to revolutionise tertiary engineering education and should serve as a model going forward on developing high-value add education. And overall the value this model can provide the country is immense.