Business administration, considered the most popular major in the United Kingdom, is wobbling under low income and opaque job outcomes, contrary to expectations that it is a choice that guarantees a stable future. As universities race to expand business administration enrollment, critics say graduates face a double burden of below-expectation treatment and student loan debt.
According to the daily Financial Times (FT), the average annual salary five years after graduation for business administration majors was about £33,200 (about 66.26 million won). That is £1,100 less than nursing, a professional technical field. It is similar to so-called employment blind-spot majors such as geography or linguistics, and the gap with high-income majors such as medicine and economics is far larger.
The job market's assessment is cold. As the business administration boom has sharply increased the number of degree holders, scarcity has fallen, while corporations are increasingly prioritizing practical skills. FT reported that some companies are expanding a "degree-type apprenticeship," hiring high school graduates instead of university graduates so they can combine practical work with study. A manufacturing company's head of human resources said, "Experience that can be put to use on the spot is more important," adding, "It is rare to hire business administration graduates who do not know the practical side."
Behind the distortionary ballooning of business administration across UK campuses lies universities' financial logic. Unlike science and engineering, business administration does not require expensive experimental equipment or special facilities, so operating expense is very low. Large lectures are possible, making it the best revenue model for universities. In fact, some universities use business administration revenue to sustain other unpopular departments. Institutions including Canterbury Christ Church University even resorted to a franchise model that outsources lectures to external education providers, increasing the number of business administration majors 24-fold in 10 years.
Educators are pouring out criticism that, under this structure, business administration departments have degenerated into universities' "cash machines." Lorraine Dearden, a University College London (UCL) professor, said, "Bad economic logic is ruling universities," adding, "Universities have easily pocketed revenue, but the bill is being footed by students and the taxpayer."
Experts warn that the quantitative expansion of higher education is leading to qualitative decline. A university official said, "The era when a business administration degree guaranteed a rosy future is over."