Graph 1

Findings

The study covers a fairly demographic representation of student population of UEL, which ages range from 18 to 45 years of age, the graph shows An increasing share of the 1835 year-old age group is registered for university courses at UEL, universities are under pressure to change in some major areas as can be seen from graph 1, an example is the. Changing student clientele. As the market for university education is expanding so the student body has inevitably become more diverse.

Graph 2 From the above graph 2 and the information it presents, we can observe that that students categorized as International students, are as concerned about the effects of the recession on the future of university education as the home students, we can deduce from the graph that these concerns has no affinity to where the students come from and most of the students who are concerned about the impact of the recession on the future of university education are concerned that because of the affects of the recession on public spending vis a vis public cuts and the increase in tuition fees will ultimately decrease the number of students in the universities, this confirms the hypothesis of whether the increase in fees and the recession affect the future of universities negatively. The university is becoming a market place for learning. Students can opt for private providers, e-learning or other alternative flexible options rather than simply going to university for a post secondary school education. Majority of both the international students and home students surveyed agreed that the recession and the increase in student fees will affect the future of university education, which may lead to a decline of overall service quality.

Graph 3a

Graph 3b The graphs above were used to determine the gender perception about the role of universities in society ,this is to test the question of the gender perception on the impact of the role universities play in the society. Graph 3a, illustrates that majority of the respondents both male and female perceived that universities are more a profit making organisation and this is across gender affiliations, graph 3b,illustrates this further with 44% of respondents saying that universities these days are for profit making institutions ,while 28% of respondents say they are research and academic centres and 28% not sure, this brings out the question of whether universities are trying to make up for cuts in their funding and are losing focus of their primary role in the society which is that of research and as academic centres and more so, is the changing nature of research, with the emphasis on usefulness and profitability taking over from research for the sake of the research?.

Graph 4

Graph 4 was used to compare how the age group perceives, technology, cost convenience, easy transfer of knowledge and how they would prefer their learning to be delivered? on the future of university education, it is essential to see if age is a factor on the results so far, or that the perception cuts through the age range at the university, the graph illustrates that

notwithstanding the age, they all prefer face to face teaching, this shows that most of the respondents still value the traditional way of teaching, so the problem of the future of university education is not about how students are taught but the economic reality of the times, which might force some of these students to seek alternatives, thereby affecting the future of universities. Though most respondents are aware of the changing form of Knowledge, technology, the internet and the home computer mean that knowledge is everywhere, all the time.

Graph 5 Graph 5 highlights the changing role of the academics. This is likely to be the make or break point for most universities, as any institution is only as good as the people that work for it. Jarvis suggests that when supply and demand does not meet in the market, then new suppliers emerge that seek to respond to it ((Jarvis, 2001 p. 18)While 37% strongly agree, 49% of respondents agree that organisations should compete with universities to provide training and research and based on the overall response the basic consideration for this attitude towards universities are cost, most people would prefer apprenticeship to a formal university because it is cost effective but is it value effective?