UNIVERSITIES risk being sidelined as big business shuns higher education in favour of in-house "corporate degrees", vice chancellors were warned this week. As companies find higher education does not meet their needs, they are increasingly turning to non-validated "corporate degrees", delegates at a Careers Research and Advisory Centre conference were told. "It can only be concluded that companies are pretty dissatisfied with the graduates universities are providing," said Frank Gould, University of East London vice chancellor.