British Universities Need to Invest to Be the Best

"Last week, a cry of fear went up from some of Britain's best universities. Oxford and Cambridge Universities both asked to be allowed to charge more for their courses, and the Russell Group (the representatives of the top 20 universities in the country), called for the cap on fees to be abolished.

The student unions have long called for an end to student fees (they want students to pay for university with a graduate tax), so why are the universities pulling in the opposite direction? They are, I think, worried about losing their world status.

And if you look at world trends, they are right to worry. The universities which top the various leagues of the best places to study in the world tend to be American. Only two of the universities in Shanghai Jiao Tong University's ranking of world top 20 are in Europe. The story is the same for Nobel Prizes. In the last fifty years more Americans have won the Nobel Prize than the rest of the world combined. Are they more brilliant? Of course not. So why? What makes good universities good?..."

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