But...where's the evidence?

The headline on the front page of yesterday's Observer said, 'The true cost of a college education', and the story tells us that graduates now have to work until they're 33 before they earn as much as people who didn't go to university.

That sounds pretty bad. But...where's the evidence?

The story doesn't even tell us the methodology or where to find the report. It was conducted by Gabbitas Educational Consultants, a perfectly reputable consultancy specialising in private education and seems linked to Independent Remuneration Solutions, another perfectly reputable consultancy who do a lot of salary surveys (both companies share the same director, Peter Brown, who also lectures at Cranfield Business School).

But for some reason, none of the evidence we need to evaluate the piece is available. Until then, it doesn't add anything to the debate. Why was it printed in that form?

Technorati tags: higher education,universities, graduate salaries

edited at 10:45 on 25/04/06 because I got a crucial fact wrong - Peter Brown is identified as the author of the piece. Sorry.