The Australian National University’s rejection of the Ramsay Centre’s Western Civilisation degree has ignited a debate about university education in Australia. It’s highlighted the extent to which left-wing ideology has permeated Australian education. There are many reasons why a degree in Western Civilisation would be controversial in Australian higher education, but one that hasn’t gotten traction is the effect that the conflation of tertiary and vocational education has had on university standards — and the impact this has on the culture within universities and on our broader culture.