In the past three years there has been a significant growth in the number of people attaining degrees.
Graduate rates of those of working age increased from 26.6 per cent in 2005 to 29 per cent in 2008, much owing to Labour initiatives aimed at making university education more accessible.
The Government particularly targeted those from poorer areas of the country with historically lower levels of higher education participation.
And, to an extent, it has been a successful initiative with a far more diverse social background of university graduates representing a wider geographical area.
However, England is a historically centralised country due to London’s economic dominance.
It is the largest commercial centre on these shores and is often seen as the place to be by the educated classes seeking to establish their careers and make their fortunes.
Nearly every sector is based in the capital, particularly marketing, accountancy and the media.
While the Government has succeeded in increasing the outreach of higher education, it has failed to decentralise the English economy.
Imagine a student from Barnsley getting a good degree and wanting to become an architect after seven years of study.
What is likely to be the most attractive option?
Returning home where prospects are limited with the main building requirements being cheap housing, or going to London to live the dream of working for a major firm and designing the next Gherkin?
I want to go into the media. And while my home town in Gloucestershire has a newspaper, it isn’t quite as attractive a prospect as going to the capital to work for the national broadsheets.
But what will be the effect of this cycle of educating people across the country only for them to migrate to cities such as Manchester and London?
It can only be detrimental having a lack of skilled people in the less glamorous regions and increase the English economic centralisation.
This can only be tackled by further investments in poorer places in order to encourage skilled graduates to use their educations at such places.
Sadly, this means increased local authority spending. And in the current financial climate, that isn’t freely available.
Sheffield is an established economic centre and has successfully swam against the turbulent tide.
Our uni has a high rate of graduate retention, with students happy to stick around after their degrees.
But while large cities profit from the education of their students, less glamorous areas struggle to attract graduates. And that’s the problem.