In today's society, everyone has a degree. College students are still working in fast food, convenience stores, etc. It used to be that a high school degree and some experience got you somewhere; this is no longer the case, and I'm starting to lean towards integrating higher education as a "right." This isn't because I can't afford, need, so on & so forth higher education, but because a degree no longer holds the value it used to. Much like inflation, the more there are, the less they're worth.

If you look at the UN Declaration of Human Rights, or for that matter any other document declaring rights of peoples or citizens, youd probably recognise that many of them relate to liberties all humans should be "entitled" to, but are afforded by the Government.

Going back to basics, you have democratic governments, monarchs and dictatorships. Let's look at democratic governments. For these to work, you need to ensure that the population has a right to vote. The right to free election - the right to vote, as it's a right, not a privilege.

However, to vote - as in for a democracy to work successfully - you need to provide your people with the ability to not only make informed decisions, but have the capacity for critical analysis of a plethora of news (and fake news), and to understand the implications of the decisions they are making. "Bread and circus" is not the way to a forward-facing democratic nation-state.

So what is the difference between education and higher education? We now know that automata is increasingly taking over basic tasks and jobs afforded to those who have minimal skills. We also know as the economy grows, we are facing a high-skills shortage. So we're not only talking about the economy needing to address a shortage of skills, but we're talking about an untrained population waiting for future unemployment in the coming workplace. The question training and education of a population should not be beholden to the shortage of employment, but should rather be seen as a workforce for a growing creative/knowledge economy.

Talent, global talent, is a source of growth. This is known.

I do not think that high-skilled, high-paid jobs should only be secured to those that have the 'privilege' to higher education.

Of course there are alternative routes that fit different lifestyles, HE doesn't fit everyone. Apprenticeships, or simply people working their way up, are also options. But for those with the ambition and want, I do not think that their choices should be blocked because a higher stage of education is reserved for those who has the financial backing of some form of privilege.

We are all entitled to the pursuit of knowledge, the right to access that knowledge, and the right to use excellent hubs of knowledge, research, teaching and learning, and innovation [ie HE providers] to pursue such a path.

It's your right to get what you have paid for and to have what you have worked for. It's a privilege to get something (honorably) that someone else has paid for.

Thus, higher education is a right for some and a privilege for others. People who have covered their own bills are not likely to agree that they received a privilege. Though those who have received the privilege are likely to claim it is a right.