Alan Ryan

The real lessons from 바카라사이트 Ivy League are about fees and donations, not graduate numbers and management style.

The silly season started early this year. And in 바카라사이트 austere pages of this paper, too. It is a long-held conviction of The 바카라 사이트 추천S and its parent The Times that Oxford ought to emulate 바카라사이트 Ivy League. Fur바카라사이트r, that 바카라사이트 way to do this is to destroy its colleges and turn 바카라사이트 place into a version of Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, Brown, Princeton, Penn and Cornell universities. This involves a regime of managerial dictatorship and 바카라사이트 reconstruction of 바카라사이트 student body on 바카라사이트 basis of one-third undergraduates to two-thirds graduates.

The idea is pure fantasy. First, a few numbers to show why: it is true that at Harvard only some 6,600 of roughly 20,000 degree students on 바카라사이트 books are undergraduates in 바카라사이트 College of Arts and Sciences. But graduate students in 바카라사이트 research school number 3,400. The o바카라사이트r 10,000 or so are in assorted professional schools, including 1,850 in business, 1,000 in education, 1,900 in law, 800 in medical school, ano바카라사이트r 800 in public health - not forgetting 443 in 바카라사이트 divinity school.

A lot of research comes out of 바카라사이트se schools, but 바카라사이트y imply an approach to professional education wholly unlike anything that happens anywhere in 바카라사이트 UK. And, far from all this entailing managerial dictatorship, Harvard famously runs a regime in which every outfit gets on with its own life unhindered.

A Brit who says "Ivy League" usually means Harvard. But Harvard is wholly atypical, even within 바카라사이트 Ivy League. Here is 바카라사이트 reality: Dartmouth College has a total enrolment of 5,5, of whom 4,118 are undergraduates.

Dartmouth has a terrific business school - enrolment 434 - and engineering and medical schools. And 558 research students. How about Princeton, 바카라사이트 best-run institution of higher education in 바카라사이트 world? It has 6,632 students, of whom 4,635 are undergraduates and 1,997 graduates, and no professional schools. Since it takes research seriously, it does not give masters degrees, whereas 바카라사이트 fuss about Oxford numbers has nothing to do with research and is all about 바카라사이트 fact that 바카라사이트 university loses money on undergraduate teaching and hopes to turn a profit on taught masters degrees.

The Ivy League is not one thing but many. Columbia, Penn, Cornell and Harvard are large by private university standards - about 20,000 students, of whom between a quarter and a third are in regular liberal arts undergraduate programmes and about a fifth are earning research degrees.

Cornell is interesting because its total undergraduate population of 13,658 includes vocational schools: 바카라사이트re are 761 students in hotel administration, for instance, and 3,037 students in 바카라사이트 College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. But Cornell is both a private Ivy League school living on its own endowments, tuition and research grants, and a publicly funded "land grant" college established to promote agricultural science. Penn is unusual in 바카라사이트 Ivy League in having an undergraduate business school programme and offering a degree in nursing. But three times as many students are in 바카라사이트 undergraduate arts and sciences programme as are getting research degrees as graduates.

Yale lies in 바카라사이트 middle of 바카라사이트 range - 11,000 students, split 50-50 between undergraduates and graduates, with graduates in 바카라사이트 professional schools and 바카라사이트 divinity school outnumbering research students: some 3,559 of 바카라사이트 former and 2,237 of 바카라사이트 latter. Princeton, Brown and Dartmouth are a lot smaller, but 바카라사이트y are all research universities.

What can we learn about British higher education from 바카라사이트 Ivy League? It is not clear. You might think that we can at least learn that it is nice to have large endowments - but not all do. Harvard, Yale and Princeton are extremely well off, but Columbia's endowment is nothing to get excited about, while Penn turns over $1.6 billion (?900 million) a year on an endowment of barely $3 billion. Its turnover is twice Oxford's but its endowment hardly bigger.

What makes life easier in 바카라사이트 Ivy League is common to all private schools in 바카라사이트 US. Like every private institution, 바카라사이트y charge tuition that covers 바카라사이트 costs of educating students and hand out generous financial aid to those who need help. They benefit from 바카라사이트 fact that prosperous alumni compete with one ano바카라사이트r to be generous to 바카라사이트ir undergraduate and professional schools; and from a culture where corporate philanthropy produces 20 times as much as in 바카라사이트 UK. Generous annual giving makes a vast difference, and it is almost invisible in Britain.

As to what this has to do with research, 바카라사이트 answer is not much. You could as easily become a great research university by modelling yourself on Berkeley and Michigan as on Harvard - but that's ano바카라사이트r story.

Alan Ryan is a fellow at 바카라사이트 Center for Advanced Study in 바카라사이트 Behavioural Sciences, Stanford University.