The Growing Demand for University Places
Former Minister of Law and Justice of India B.R Ambedkar once said “history shows that
where ethics and economics come in conflict, victory is always with economics” (Ambdekar, n.d).
Finding a solution for a problem concerning education makes the matter even more complex for it
to be dealt with ethically. The amount of people seeking university places is growing
simultaneously as the population increases. This makes matters of organization further complex for
institutions and overcrowding in lectures and seminars. Studies have investigated the effects of
overcrowding and results have depicted that it negatively affects the student physiologically,
sociologically and psychologically (Shah, 2012). Without a constructive and an organized
education, careers, intellectuals and societies will hardly be well-shaped or equipped to function,
proving the severity of this matter and the ethical solutions that should be implemented in order to
gain profitable outcomes. Through expanding and investing in university campuses, students can
learn in more successful environments, not having to fight the concern of overcrowding caused by
the growing demand for places.
Classes become less of a safe space for students to learn and grow when lecture halls are
overfull. Ucas, the British education system, recently discovered that “the number of applicants is
expected to rise from around 700,000 a year to more than a million in the upcoming four years”
(N.A, 2021) and that is only in the United Kingdom alone. This means that by 2025 more
universities are expected to either expand or initialize from the ground up or there will be a serious
crisis. The effects of overcrowded classrooms are various. For one, struggling students fail to find
themselves motivated for work and face more difficulties aside from their present challenges
(Meador, 2019). The relationship between an educator and the learners or the latter and the
subject of the class is a highly sacred transaction of information and bond. Many success stories
lead back to a professor or a class that impacted their lives greatly. For instance, Oprah Winfrey
frequently mentions the substantial influence of her teacher on her career, that this educator “is the
reason [she has] a talk show” (La Fountain, 2022). In addition, the university is more prone to
losing students to dropout cases due to the negative repercussions toxic work environments have
on scholars. A Hungarian educational research journal have conducted investigations that found a
possible “significant relationship between positive cohort growth and the probability of dropout”
1
(Diem & Wolter, 2019). In summary, universities are required to put in place a practical and
spacious place for learning for the benefit of both the student and the financial profit of the
institution.
Investing in campus expansions are advantageous yet do not unjustly serve the student
ecosystem in a university atmosphere. As quoted at the beginning of this writing, conflicts between
economics and ethics are not to the ethics’ favor, however this consequence is not always true
depending on the sector at hand. Services such as education are accounted for a mass number of
lives therefore lucrative priorities are in need to be flexible. Putting the scholar’s needs and interest
above all else is what certifies as a positive academic environment. Nevertheless, looking at
universities across 78 countries, researchers found that “on average, doubling the number of
universities in a region increases that region’s subsequent income by over four per cent” (Valero &
Van Reenen, 2016). This means that not only will the academic workplace be successful, but also
many benefit from this investment on the long run, whether it be alums, the establishment
responsible for the expansion, the investors, the government or all of them together. Be that as it
may, this solution causes some disturbance. This provisioning of additional territory would not be
ideal for all countries. Some studies interpret that this policy would actually affect “the incomes and
job satisfaction of university/college graduates to different degrees” (Ye et al., 2019). Just as well, if
the case would be that the government is the investor, rigorous conditions would be imposed on
students in order to gain turnover. Howbeit, this path closes many open doors by fulfilling much of
the concerned people’s needs in this matter. Numerous job opportunities would become available
due to the demand for more professors and administration employees, all while Higher Level
Education's value stays intact. Thereby subsidizing expansions for more effective education poses
a favorable impact in terms of ethics and finances.
In conclusion, students may study in more effective circumstances if university campuses
are expanded rather than fighting overcrowding caused by rising demand for spaces. Classrooms
with an excessive amount of participants erupt an anxious environment with minimal space for
development and want for learning. Choosing to maintain this pedagogic lifestyle in order to
conserve one’s financials is in no way ethical but in fact contradicting the purpose of education as
a service. This is why investors, either private or public sector, should seek to invest in the
2
expansion of university campuses in order to fight this drawback. According to research, this
solution would alter the wages and work satisfaction of university graduates to varying degrees, as
well as create additional employment possibilities and enhance the region's total income. This
means that not only will the higher education workplace be successful, but many other than
students will gain from this investment in the long term. Although this proposal presents minor
setbacks such as it not being applicable in all regions, the conveniences make a strong case. As
times change, the technological world will find its way to facilitate the means of Higher Level
Education, which is why research is always preferred to stay mandatory amongst all organizations
in order to keep enhancing the formation of the intellects that form the society.
3
References :
“10 Celebrities Tell How Teachers Changed Their Lives.” Bored Teachers, https://
[Link]/post/celebrities-teachers-changed-their-lives. Accessed 4 Dec. 2022.
A Quote by B.R. Ambedkar. [Link]
that-where-ethics-and-economics-come-in-conflict. Accessed 4 Dec. 2022.
Diem, Andrea, and Stefan C. Wolter. “A Place Too Crowded to Study: The Impact of
Student Cohort Growth on the Probability of University Dropout.” Hungarian Educational
Research Journal, vol. 9, no. 2, Sept. 2019, pp. 189–212. [Link], [Link]
10.1556/063.9.2019.1.20.
“Growth Multiplier: How University Expansion Increases National Income.” British Politics
and Policy at LSE, 24 Mar. 2016, [Link]
universities-in-a-country-the-faster-its-economic-growth/.
Shah, Jehangir. “THE IMPACT OF OVERCROWDED CLASSROOM ON THE ACADEMI.”
International Journal of Commerce, Economics and Management, vol. VOLUME NO. 2,
June 2012.
“The Potential Negative Impact of University Expansion.” University World News, https://
[Link]/[Link]?story=20190206150524104. Accessed 3 Dec.
2022.
“Ucas Boss: Spike in Demand for University Places Expected by 2025.” BBC News, 2 Aug.
2021. [Link], [Link]
“What Teachers Can Do to Combat an Overcrowded Classroom.” ThoughtCo, https://
[Link]/teaching-in-an-overcrowded-classroom-3194352. Accessed 3 Dec.
2022.
