The Danish Example Shows What Can Happen When the Government Picks Up the Tap for Your University Education

It can limit your options:

The Danish parliament on Monday passed a bill that will bar students from taking a second university degree.  

The bill restricts individuals who already have a higher education degree from pursuing a degree in another field at the same or a lower level. 

The plan’s backers say the move will save 300 million kroner per year that can instead be used to fund the dagpenge unemployment system but critics say that limiting students’ abilities to change their course of studies can lock them in to poor choices and limit their future employment possibilities. 

Nearly 80,000 Danes signed a petition protesting the bill, arguing that the so-called ‘double education cap’ will not only hurt students but will rob society of future skilled workers. 

The petition argues that “thousands of students will be stuck in an education in which they can’t see a future”.  

“The brightest and most ambitious young people will look abroad for the education they want. We run the risk that they will not return to Denmark with their knowledge,” the petition states, adding that the education cap is “short-sited”. 

Also short-sighted.