Reform plans to end student loans for ‘Mickey Mouse’ degrees

Suella Braverman, Education Spokesperson for Reform UK, has said that they would end student loans for ‘woke’ university degrees.

According to Braverman, such courses will not be offered taxpayer-funded loans under a Reform government – and will have to be paid for privately

“Young people have been conned into tens of thousands of pounds worth of debt”

The informal term ‘Mickey Mouse’ degree has been defined by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as “rip-off degrees” that fail to increase long-term earnings. These degrees are usually perceived as less academically challenging and of poor value in the job market. Braverman specifies them to be ones such as gender studies, social justice, critical race theory, and queer theory.

The reasoning behind this has been expressed as concerns about the national economy, about students being left in debt, and concern towards taxpayers. Braverman told The Telegraph: “Young people have been conned into tens of thousands of pounds worth of debt for degrees that too often leave them with poor job prospects while taxpayers are left footing the bill.”

She also went on to say: “Meanwhile, our economy is crying out for home-grown engineers, scientists, technicians, builders and skilled tradespeople.” This reveals the overarching economic issues that shape how education is made accessible to students. It also opens up a conversation about what kinds of education are considered important and of value – evidently mainly STEM-based degrees as opposed to humanities-based ones.

Humanities graduates report higher job satisfaction, Oxford research finds

Recent research by the University of Oxford shows evidence contrary to some of Reform UK’s concerns. The report, aptly titled ‘The Value of Humanities’, found that humanities students develop valuable skills and flexibility, have paths in a wide range of employment sectors, make wider contributions to addressing issues faced by society, and tend to have higher levels of job satisfaction.

With university fees in England set to increase every year in line with inflation from 2026 onwards, student loans are more important than ever to ensure accessible education to students with a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds.

In addition to this, the lack of value placed on issues relating to gender, race, and sexuality could also be an indication of how a Reform UK government could affect marginalised groups on a wider scale.