The single sold out in HMV and Virgin Megastores nationwide and was one of the 20 most requested music videos on a cable television station.Elviss has won financial backing from a big international entertainment company. “After just two years in my position I am running one of the biggest and most successful golf operations in the UK,” he says.POPULAR MUSIC PERFORMANCEWhen Drew McConnell and his punk band Elviss heard that their second single, “D-Change”, had been selected for Radio 1 DJ, Jo Whiley’s Record of the Week, their tour bus went crazy. Having taken up golf at 15, Russell realised that he would never be good enough to play professionally.”I find the term ‘Mickey Mouse degree’ completely disrespectful, not only to those people who have attained qualifications on these courses, but also to every other student,” he says. “Many of the qualifications that Mrs Hodge is talking about are actually very beneficial for students looking to get straight into a career.”The course covered the rules and regulations of golf clubs, golf course maintenance and ground keeping, as well as human resources, management training and accountancy. He is certain that the golf qualification on his CV gave him the edge over other applicants.

He earns about £30,000 a year and manages a team of up to 30 staff. His ambition is to become the director of a national golf chain earning £70,000, within the next two years.He graduated in 1998 with a golf and leisure management HND from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, which has started one of the country’s first degree courses in the subject. If you followed that sort of advice nobody would have moved past teaching theology, which was all the universities taught in the Middle Ages.”Who should prospective students believe? Are they taking a risk by choosing a non-traditional, highly specialised vocational degree course? We talk to three students who risked the Mickey Mouse jibes and came out smiling.GOLF AND LEISURE MANAGEMENTRussell Mayne, 25, is one of the youngest managers of a golf course in the country, running the Worsley Park Hotel Golf Course in Manchester, part of the Marriott hotel chain. “Universities evolve and change depending on the job market,” he says. “They don’t put on courses that they do not feel there is the market for and they are not proud of.”People used to say exactly the same thing about engineering, that it wasn’t a degree course They used to say don’t consider studying sociology. “Employers value those who have vocational as well as academic awards and look for individuals with the practical skills and knowledge that vocational courses develop,” says Richard Brown, chief executive of the Council for Industry and Higher Education.”If you look at media studies, which has been thought of as a Mickey Mouse course, there are more graduates using skills gained on their courses than there are law students who are now practising lawyers.”The courses are developed in conjunction with employers and are exactly what the employers want, says Geoffrey Copland, the vice-chancellor of the University of Westminster and chairman of the Coalition of Modern Universities.

Media studies is one of the suspects, as is any course containing the word “leisure”. However, most of the courses – such as golf studies, horticulture, football and pop music – are relatively new creations at former polytechnics and are often tied in to the world of work.Some commentators believe that associating such courses with Disney’s famous rodent is unfair to students and their teachers and contradicts the Government’s stated aim of tailoring higher education to the needs of employers. But Margaret Hodge, the Higher Education minister, has warned school leavers to steer clear of “Mickey Mouse courses that do little to put graduates on the career ladder”.
Mrs Hodge refused to name names, leaving students and universities to ponder what she meant. I now cope with things that a couple of months ago would have driven me to tears, and I’m having a really great time.”education independent.co.uk. Would-be students can be forgiven for being confused. “However hard it is, everyone loves their Erasmus year,” says Katy.