Absent better state secondary schools, universities may have to take radical measures: Cambridge is considering a foundation year for students who show potential but are ill prepared. A review of the government-imposed cap on tuition fees, due next year, may also help. The current limit of £3,300 ($5,926), which nearly all universities are up against, is so low that many lose money on teaching. A higher cap would allow greater differentiation, thus helping to remove another flaw: the pretence that a degree of a particular class (a first, say) from one university is equivalent to the same class from any other.
因为缺乏良好的高中，各高校可能会采取较彻底措施，比如，剑桥大学如今在筹划给那些资质优良但基础薄弱的学生专门设立基础学年。另外，将于明年将会重新 审查对高校学费实施限额的规定，这可能也会起到一定作用。所有高校几乎都反对现行限额：3300英镑（亦即5926美元）。学费低的连支付教师工资都不 够。提高限额将有利于学校分化，这样一来就可以解决另一个问题：再不会有人谎称从一所大学一个班上（比方说优秀班级）拿到的学位跟另外一所大学相同班级所 得学位没有差别了。

So all is not lost—yet—in the battle for quality in what will be on offer to future freshers. But “more” could still mean “worse” if the jobs market is flooded with graduates. The Confederation of British Industry worries this is the case: on September 17th it launched a task-force to consider not only whether the wrong sort of graduates are being turned out but also whether supply risks outstripping demand.
这样就可以尽量确保将来的大学生们所得的教学质量。但是如果职场里大学毕业生过多，那么越多可能还是意味着越糟。英国工业联合会对此十分担忧，于是在9月17号开展了一项调查以确定高校是否在输出社会不需要的毕业生，以及人才的供给是否超出了社会的需求。

This is likely to be what concerns students most. A survey released on September 11th by Sodexo, an education-outsourcing company, found that for more than half of them the prime reason for pursuing a degree was to improve job or salary prospects, or that they had to for their chosen profession. Only 9% wanted to increase their knowledge of an area of interest.
该情况可能是学生所最为关心的。据一家教育外包公司Sodexo9月11日公布的一项调查显示，超过一半的大学生表示，继续深造主要是为了好工作以及高薪或者是由于本专业要求；然而只有9%的受访者表示为了能在感兴趣的领域学习更多知识。

At first glance, the earnings uplift looks worthwhile. An estimate in 2006 suggested that in purely financial terms a degree produced the same lifetime-income stream as giving an 18-year-old with two A-levels £160,000 to invest. But cracks are appearing in the “graduate premium”. For one thing, it varies immensely by field of study (see chart): men with arts degrees can expect to earn less than if they had skipped university entirely. (The relative returns for graduate women are higher not because they earn more than men but because less-qualified women earn very little.) For another, its value is increasingly dependent on the detail.
上表乍看上去，受过高等教育的人收入长的多。2006年有人估计，从纯粹经济角 度看，一个学位所能带来的终生收益相当于一个18岁青年获得32万投资资金所获的受益。但是这种“学位增值说”也有漏洞：首先，这种增值在不同领域差别巨 大（见上表），对于拥有艺术学科学位的男子而言，如果他们当初没有接受高等教育，他们拿得钱应该会多一些。（对于女性毕业生而言，她们的回报比男性多一 些，然而她们并不是比男性赚的多，仅仅是因为受教育程度低的女性的收入太低。）另外，学位的价值大不大与其具体内容关系越来越大。

Robin Naylor, at Warwick University, has found that the average return to a degree has held up well over the past 20 years, but it has become more variable: the university now matters greatly, as does the degree class. “The penalty for not having a degree is high, but the penalty for getting the wrong one can be even higher,” he says. And Francis Green, of Kent University, has discovered that in 2006 a third of graduates were working in jobs that did not require a degree, up from a quarter in 2001; they earned a third less than those who were using their degrees.
沃里克大学的Robin Naylor研究发现，过去二十年里学位的回报水平一直不错，但是现在的情况变因更多：从哪一所大学毕业以及学习课程等等。“没有学位的人在社会里会很吃 亏，但是如果拿的学位不对可能会更吃亏。”他说道。肯特大学的Francis Green则发现，2001年有四分之一的大学毕业生在不需要学位的地方工作，到2006年则增加到三分之一，他们比那些靠自己学位赚钱的人工资少三分之 一。

It is too late for this year’s freshers to reconsider their university careers; but what should next year’s batch do? Those who are in it for the money should be ruthless about what they study and where—and then be sure to work hard and get good marks. Or they could throw away the calculator and follow their hearts. “It’s a big risk, going to university, much bigger than it used to be,” says Mr. Naylor. “But if you study something you like, then even if you don’t earn so much, there is a better chance you’ll work in a field you love.”
今年的大学新生们现在再重新考虑专业选择有点迟了，但是明年的新生该怎么办？对于那些为了以后收入而读大学的人来说，他们必须非常明确自己要学什么以及 在哪儿学，然后就要勤学习，拿高分。或者也可以抛却精打细算，随性而为。Naylor先生有言，“现在读大学比以前的风险大得多，但是如果你学习的专业是 自己的兴趣所在，那么将来尽管你挣的钱不多，但是你更有可能在你喜欢的领域里工作。”