Claims that there are too many graduates in society and that public money should be taken away from universities are ¡°short-sighted, deceiving and Luddite¡±, the head of a Scottish university has said.

Bernard King, principal and vice-chancellor of the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Abertay Dundee and incoming convener of Universities Scotland, said that despite gloom and doom about the tough graduate job market, ¡°you are still more likely to get a job and have a long and rewarding career with a degree than without one¡±.

Addressing new graduates at the university¡¯s summer ceremony yesterday, he said their degrees represented an investment in the future of society as a whole.

His comments echoed those of David Willetts, the universities and science minister, who insisted last week that degrees were still good investments for students, despite the findings of a survey by the Association of Graduate Recruiters, which suggests that about 70 graduates are now competing for each graduate job.

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Urging the government to spare the academy from swingeing cuts, Professor King said that the country would need graduates more than ever as it recovered from the recession.

¡°51¹ú²úÊÓƵ education is now a necessity ¨C expensive but absolutely essential for a nation wishing to survive and prosper in the modern world,¡± he said.

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Professor King added that Britain had to keep pace with other nations, including China and India, which were pouring more money into their universities.

¡°Closer to home, even economies that endured the financial storms alongside Britain, such as Germany and France, are investing more, not less, in their universities as a strategy to climb out of recession,¡± he said.

hannah.fearn@tsleducation.com