As I write this, there are rumblings in the media that the British government is set to allow UK universities to charge in excess of £6,000 a year for tuition fees. The more sensationalist rags are speculating that the best universities might even demand an eye-watering £12,000!

This is the cost – the universities say – of having to remain competitive with other universities across the world. Whilst there is much merit in this reasoning, for the prospective student it should be cause to re-evaluate their motives for pursuing a degree.

What is the purpose of higher education? And is it really worth the extra cost?

Shiny-headed, business impresario Seth Godin describes the student’s place in life as this:

“Since you were five, schools and society have been teaching you to be a cog in the machine of our economy. To do what you’re told, to sit in straight lines and to get the work done.

In the early factory era, there was great demand for trained cogs, the cogs even had unions, and cog work was steady, consistent and respected. There were way worse things than coghood”

However, as many commentators have noted, we are moving away from a purely industrial economy of cogs to a knowledge economy. It doesn’t quite cut it anymore to be one of the millions of cogs -sorry, I mean graduates – who are churned out to the tertiary education system each year.

Education enlightens, LikeMinds empowers

When was the last time a university lecture empowered you?

Often when we’re in classes we might feel enlightened but we are rarely empowered. I didn’t know what ’portmanteau’ meant or how to apply 1940s French structuralist thought to a wrestling-match until I went to university. In these cases, I have beenenlightened.

But knowing these facts have not empowered me.

What has been empowering has been my introduction the LikeMinds network which provides a supportive and instructive forum for those who are about to embark on life-long careers in rapidly changing industries.

In fact, to call it a network would be to do it a disservice. LikeMinds is more than that – it is a community. A community of entrepeneurs, change agents and activists committed to helping, serving and innovating for mutual benefit . LikeMinds isn’t just their to make you the cog that little bit shinier – we want you to enable you to start your own machine.

Whatever career you are hoping to go into when you graduate, this year’s LikeMinds conference will expose you to a wealth of experience, knowledge and ideas that will be the difference between you getting a job and getting job seeker’s allowance.

So, do you want to be a man or merely a cog?

If you are interested in pursuing a career in publishing, music, film or technology after you graduate, register for the LikeMinds conference which is being held in Exeter at the end of October. Go here for more information.