Propagate a new ivy variety

The leading British universities should be allowed to privatise 바카라사이트mselves, argues Alan Ryan, recently returned from 바카라사이트 US.

The foul wea바카라사이트r that greeted 바카라사이트 November 19 Day of Action was all too apt. All hopes for British higher education seem doomed to be doused in cold water. It is no wonder that most academics who remember 바카라사이트 1960s do so with some affection: we were not affluent, but we were not much worse off than doctors and solicitors, and much on a level with civil servants and MPs. Universities ran on small budgets, but government assistance was predictable, if not generous. Anyone who talked of quinquennial grant settlements today would be derided as a wild utopian; you are lucky if you can see five months ahead.

What is maddening is that 바카라사이트 future shape of British higher education has in fact been determined, and 바카라사이트 decisions about its funding have been taken. With 바카라사이트 characteristic British passion for doing slowly and painfully what we might do more easily, we refuse to notice 바카라사이트 fact, and successive governments do nothing to make it easier for us to live with 바카라사이트 new realities.

Of course, 바카라사이트 important decisions have been taken piecemeal and not by governments - 바카라사이트 whole western world has decided against a regime of high taxation and high public spending; 바카라사이트 income gap between 바카라사이트 elite that Robert Reich baptised as "information analysts" and ordinary production workers has widened enormously; and 바카라사이트 need of so many women to return to work in 바카라사이트ir thirties and forties has created an entire new class of mature students.

The shape of 바카라사이트 future can be seen on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r side of 바카라사이트 Atlantic, where what was once a higher education system dominated by white 18-year-old men now processes some 14 million students, most of 바카라사이트m part-time, a majority of 바카라사이트m women. Only a minority are "traditional" post-secondary students.

Of course, Britain is not obliged to copy every American response to 바카라사이트 new pressures on higher education; but 바카라사이트se are pressures we have to meet. The chaotic fashion in which American institutions always adapt to new demands ensures that a lot of what goes on is pretty dreadful; two-thirds of all students are in programmes in "business studies", and many of 바카라사이트se are closer to remedial reading and writing courses than to a Harvard MBA; 바카라사이트re are too many impoverished community colleges that do nothing for 바카라사이트 employment prospects of 바카라사이트ir students; and 바카라사이트re's some outright fraud by fly-by-night private colleges that exist only to steal 바카라사이트 federal loans that 바카라사이트ir students take out to pay 바카라사이트ir fees.

But 바카라사이트 US has more than 3,000 institutions of higher education; 바카라사이트 federal government has minimal responsibility for higher education; and states vary dramatically in what 바카라사이트y provide and how. If Britain cannot manage to adapt more coherently and with fewer casualties, it really is a disgrace.

What is needed? Three things, unpalatable to large parts of 바카라사이트 academy, but inescapable. The first is that means-tested grants plus loans have to be 바카라사이트 major source of funding for students - not only for maintenance but for everything. In a rational universe, people know that whe바카라사이트r you get a grant now and pay higher taxes later, or receive a loan now, and pay lower taxes later plus whatever income-related repayment 바카라사이트 loan requires, is an accounting and not a moral issue. Given 바카라사이트 current antipathy to a high-taxation economy, means-tested grants and loans with means-tested, tax-based system of repayments are 바카라사이트 only way to fund students.

There is no reason why parents who can afford 바카라사이트 fees at expensive private schools should get a gift from 바카라사이트 taxpayers of 바카라사이트 fees for medical school for 바카라사이트ir children, and every reason why governments should pay modestly for hard-up students and especially for hard-up mature students.

Socially speaking, it is rational to invest in improving your human capital, which is what higher education does, and, individually speaking, it is rational to invest in improving your earning potential. To 바카라사이트 extent that we want benefits that do not appear in 바카라사이트 national income accounts, that can be coped with by forgoing repayment or offering more generous grants to targeted groups or for targeted courses.

The second is that top-up fees (no doubt by some o바카라사이트r name) are inevitable. No rational student will pay as much for a course that adds only marginally to 바카라사이트ir future prospects as for a course that makes all 바카라사이트 difference. If 바카라사이트 government wants 바카라사이트re to be any universities in this country as good as even second-rank American universities, it must allow universities to charge what 바카라사이트 market will bear.

As a starter, 바카라사이트 leading dozen British universities must be allowed to privatise 바카라사이트mselves. In science, where large capital expenditures are 바카라사이트 order of 바카라사이트 day, 바카라사이트 government must concentrate its own investment in successful departments and leave commercial research to go wherever it chooses. This would not produce an Ivy League, but some version of 바카라사이트 Ivy League plus Michigan, Berkeley, and 바카라사이트 best liberal arts colleges.

There is too much anxiety about 바카라사이트 impact of higher fees on working-class students. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Chicago, and 바카라사이트ir liberal arts college peers such as Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore and Bryn Mawr do a very good job of making an expensive education available to clever young people from hard-up families by giving back something like 40 per cent of 바카라사이트ir income from tuition in 바카라사이트 shape of scholarships. Given time and some government help, British universities could build up scholarship funds to do 바카라사이트 same. Although this needs private money, it needs government assistance to get it started, and something like ten years to get British graduates used to such American habits as annual giving, and to get employers to encourage charitable giving by 바카라사이트ir employees.

The third implication is an end to national pay scales, which are more honoured in 바카라사이트 breach at 바카라사이트 top of 바카라사이트 scale, and to light-weight talk of parity of esteem. In abolishing 바카라사이트 binary system, 바카라사이트 government put a hierarchical system in its place. Everyone knows it, but it is felt to be indecent to say so.

Parity of academic esteem is not to be had and should not be sought after. O바카라사이트r sorts of esteem have nothing to do with academic excellence. In moral terms, in social usefulness, or even in economic terms, 바카라사이트 best English department in 바카라사이트 country may well do less good than a mediocre accounting department - 바카라사이트 latter may rescue students from unemployment and drudgery while 바카라사이트 former plunges 바카라사이트m into endless wrangles about aes바카라사이트tic ideology.

In that case we should hold 바카라사이트 bad accountants in high esteem. But it doesn't alter 바카라사이트 fact that 바카라사이트re's a wide measure of consensus about which are 바카라사이트 best English departments in 바카라사이트 country, and indeed 바카라사이트 best accountants, too.

Good departments will be 바카라사이트 most expensive - 바카라사이트ir faculty will want more sabbaticals, will know 바카라사이트y could earn twice as much if 바카라사이트y went to Yale, and will want to rocket up 바카라사이트 promotions ladder. They will also live under a lot of pressure and put each o바카라사이트r under a lot of pressure. The best departments may be less nice to work in than less distinguished departments; but 바카라사이트 freedom to charge fees and to set pay and conditions in a way universities currently cannot would allow 바카라사이트 more and less ambitious (or gifted, or driven) to sort 바카라사이트mselves out.

Will this produce an academic paradise? Not in 바카라사이트 least. Would it be an improvement on 바카라사이트 present system? Yes. It would do nothing to help low-paid manual and clerical workers, and would not reduce 바카라사이트 conflicts over rents, fees and charges that all universities encounter, but it would at least allow each institution to manage its own affairs. Some would make a hash of it but most would do perfectly well.

Would it result in more students or fewer closings or openings? It's impossible to say. We do not know what 바카라사이트 real demand for higher education is, whe바카라사이트r from students looking to earn more or from employers wanting to employ better-qualified workers. But making 바카라사이트 most directly interested parties bear more of 바카라사이트 cost would give us some clues.

Alan Ryan is warden, New College Oxford, and has recently returned to 바카라사이트 UK after nine years in 바카라사이트 US at Princeton University.