An increase in students applying to study economics at university is being attributed to (归因于)the global economic crisis awakening a public thirst for knowledge about how the financial system works.
Applications for degree courses beginning this autumn were up by 15% this January, according to UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. A spokesman for the Royal Economic Society said applications to do economics at A-level were also up.
Professor john Beath, the president of the society and a leading lecturer at St Andrews University, said his first-year lectures-which are open to students from all departments-were drawing crowds of 400, rather than the usual 250.
“There are a large number of students who are not economics majors, who would like to learn something about it. One of the things I have done this year is to relate my teaching to contemporary events in a way that one hasn’t traditionally done.” He said.
University applications rose 7% last year, but there were rises above average in several subjects. Nursing saw a 15% jump, with people’s renewed interest in careers in the pubic sector(部门), which are seen as more secure in economic crisis.
A recent study showed almost two thirds of parents believed schools should do more to teach pupils about financial matters, and almost half said their children had asked them what was going on, although a minority of parents felt they did not understand it themselves well enough to explain.
Zack Hocking, the head of Child Trust Funds, said: “It’s possible that one good thing to arise from the downturn will be a generation that’s financially wiser and better equipped to manage their money through times of economic uncertainty.”

在大学里申请学习经济学的学生人数增长归因于全球经济危机唤起了人们对于及金融体系如何运作等知识的渴求。
根据大学入学申请处的说法，一月份申请今年秋季开课的学位课程的人数增长了15%。皇家经济学会一名发言人说，A级别的经济学课程申请数量也增长了。
约翰比斯教授是学会的主席和圣安德鲁斯大学的一名高级讲师，他说他所讲授的向所有系开放的一年级课程吸引了400人，而平时只有250人。
他说“有大部分学生不是主修经济学的，但是他们想学习一些经济学知识。今年我所做的一件事就是把我的教学内容与当前的经济形势联系起来，而以前通常是不这样做的。”
去年的大学申请增长了7%，而其中还有一些科目在平均增长率之上。护理学出现了15%的跳跃式增长，这是由于人们对于公共部门职业重新产生了兴趣，人们认为在经济危机形势下这种职业比较固定。
最近一项研究表明三分之二的父母认为学校应该教授学生一些金融知识，并且近半数人说他们的孩子问他们发生了什么事情，但是有少数父母感到自己并不能很好地理解和向孩子解释。儿童信托基金的领袖，塞克.霍金说“也许拥有良好经济金融知识的一代在经济不稳定的时期善于理财能够使人们从经济低迷中走出来”。