A running joke for many years has been the McDonald’s Degree.

Well what was a joke for many is now going to become a reality.

McDonald’s is introducing its own degree course in business management for its restaurant bosses in the UK.

The foundation degree, which will be accredited by Manchester Metropolitan University, marks the fast-food company’s latest move into education.

Read more on BBC News.

True it’s not about getting a degree from McDonald’s it’s about how a company wants their staff to get a degree without needing to leave their jobs.

It will be taught by a combination of classroom study, e-learning and training in the workplace.

This is also not unique, many other companies offer similar schemes.

Of course the “joke” only really works if McDonald’s starts to offer degrees to their customers….

McDonald’s is not the first company to do this kind of thing, it was recently announced that the supermarket chain, Morrisons, was in partnership with Bradford University’s management school under which Morrisons will fund 20 undergraduates through a three-year degree course in food manufacturing, paying them a salary.

What is interesting is how this kind of offering will impact on universities who, like Manchester Metropolitan University with McDonald’s, will be accrediting the degrees and very likely uninvolved in the delivery of the degree, even if they are involved in the design.

So is this the thin end of the wedge? A corporatisation of education that is one step too far? Or a logical step for learners and business?