A public poll indicates people think science degrees are better value for taxpayers' money. Do you agree?
In a poll conducted for the RSC by leading polling organisation Ipsos MORI, over 1000 people were asked to rate different university degree subjects in terms of "value for money" for the taxpayer.
There was a decisive split between sciences and arts, with seven of the top eight subjects ranked by "high priority" votes being science-related.
Our Government is there to represent the views of the people. According to this poll those views are that, in a time where our economy needs rebalancing and bolstering, science degrees are excellent value for money.
Should a democratic Government be focusing its budget spending on those subjects that people perceive as more helpful to our economy? In other words, should science degrees be a higher funding priority than arts degrees?
We'd love to hear what you think. Should science be a priority to bolster our economy? Should "value for money" be an argument applied to higher education funding? Are we even asking the right questions? Please argue fervently in the comments below!
If you wish you can download the full data set here.
Here's the summary table, in order of votes for "high priority". The question asked was: "Government funding is likely to be cut for teaching university students. Thinking about subjects taught at universities, would you rate the following subjects to be a high, medium or low priority for getting value for tax payers' money:"
| Base: All answering Q1 | High | Medium | Low | Don't Know |
| | | | | |
| Unweighted | 1040 | 1040 | 1040 | 1040 |
| Weighted | 1040 | 1040 | 1040 | 1040 |
| Medicine | 888 | 63 | 17 | 72 |
| | 85% | 6% | 2% | 7% |
| Engineering | 714 | 214 | 39 | 74 |
| | 69% | 21% | 4% | 7% |
| Education | 700 | 226 | 42 | 72 |
| | 67% | 22% | 4% | 7% |
| Mathematics | 652 | 259 | 56 | 73 |
| | 63% | 25% | 5% | 7% |
| Dentistry | 641 | 271 | 53 | 75 |
| | 62% | 26% | 5% | 7% |
| Chemistry | 607 | 295 | 64 | 75 |
| | 58% | 28% | 6% | 7% |
| Physics | 587 | 303 | 72 | 79 |
| | 56% | 29% | 7% | 8% |
| Biology | 580 | 326 | 63 | 72 |
| | 56% | 31% | 6% | 7% |
| Law | 541 | 346 | 88 | 65 |
| | 52% | 33% | 8% | 6% |
| Computing | 525 | 352 | 89 | 74 |
| | 50% | 34% | 9% | 7% |
| Business Studies | 320 | 449 | 195 | 77 |
| | 31% | 43% | 19% | 7% |
| Architecture | 317 | 426 | 215 | 82 |
| | 30% | 41% | 21% | 8% |
| European Languages | 240 | 426 | 287 | 86 |
| | 23% | 41% | 28% | 8% |
| Design | 201 | 445 | 307 | 88 |
| | 19% | 43% | 30% | 8% |
| History | 159 | 397 | 404 | 79 |
| | 15% | 38% | 39% | 8% |
| Non-European Languages | 129 | 332 | 484 | 95 |
| | 12% | 32% | 47% | 9% |
| Philosophy | 100 | 258 | 591 | 90 |
| | 10% | 25% | 57% | 9% |
| Classics | 81 | 256 | 609 | 94 |
| | 8% | 25% | 59% | 9% |
| Media Studies | 71 | 284 | 596 | 90 |
| | 7% | 27% | 57% | 9% |
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