I think that the academic qualifications achieved by Nigel were to ensure a familial income inside or outside of football management (as a physiotherapist or in the sports science arena), and for that he should be proud. Not sure that these qualifications have any bearing on his chances of being successful as a top flight manager but it would appear to be unlikely, given the evidence provided by the current incumbents throughout elite sport / elite sport management, let alone football. What it probably does give him is a perspective on the difficulty of life outside the football bubble, and how hard kids have to work over three years at any university to get any degree.
My only experience of Salford University alumus was spending a short period many years ago working at the Houses of Parliament alongside a mature student from that institution (on what now would be called an internship, then work experience), an unreformed hippy, who made Neil from the Young Ones look like Roger Moore (voiced by Steve Coogan), he used to ride between Manchester and London at weekends on a motorcyle combination in all weathers and was a malodourous nutcase - to his credit he was a City fan and they were sh*te at the time. I also know that Salford is ranked about 100 out of around 115 UK Universities after a bit of trawling a couple of years ago after being tipped off that an ex tutor of mine had been removed as a Professor at Salford after not stopping doing what he had been doing when I was being tutored by him...