Recently, a significant number of people suggest introducing cross country study or working in an industry for everybody during undergraduate study. While this may seem like a great idea due to how competitive the job market is, ultimately it should not be a mandate for all students. There are many reasons including the increase of university’s spending and limiting the number of choices for undergraduates.
First of all, tuition fees across all universities will rise due to dealing with visa, accommodation, etc. This decreases the opportunitity of people from lower-income household to attend tertiary education as they do not have the financial means to pay for it. Therefore, the disparity between social classes will widen as a direct result of the policy. Additionally, students need to apply for the work program on their own with these work placement initiatives. Those who are not accepted in the workplace will be unable to claim the degree that they wanted to obtain in the first place. A fake job industry – one where a company exists only to provide an impression of doing work even though it is not – may exist as not everyone gets a placement from the industry.
Those who favor the opposite argue that course takers will be more prepared towards real life environment through work placement; however, they do not know the lack of support from the university to find these jobs. So, the process is not as smooth as what people imagine. Only 60% of people during my father’s time at university managed to find a job.
To conclude, the drawbacks of making work placement or study abroad outweigh the benefits as a lot of effort and cost are required to succeed in the process. In the end, try to make it optional so the burden will not fall for the entire class.