Survival of the richest

New York

As British universities lurch from funding crisis to funding crisis, the jealous eyes of the academic establishment focus obsessively on the United States as the role model for future success. The assumption is that if UK universities charged ‘realistic’ fees, they would recreate themselves as ‘world class’ — or, at any rate, superior — institutions, like those in America.

But what is the truth about American universities? Are they really so much better than those in Britain? Are US students in general better educated? Does the US profit from the enormous sacrifice made each year by parents and students?

Some — perhaps 20 or 30 — American universities are better than all but a tiny handful of their British equivalents. A few, such as Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Stanford, but also MIT, Chicago and Berkeley, make up the global crème de la crème of academia. Most US universities, however, are very ordinary places.