The British government unveiled a four-year budget this month that includes drastic cuts to higher education. The cuts accelerate a steady move away from a publicly supported system to one in which students and the private sector shoulder more of the costs: in other words, a system that looks more like the American model.
To see how the two systems actually compare, The Chronicle has compiled some data that illustrate how government financing, overall national support, and tuition rates differ between the United States and Britain.
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Tuition and Fees |
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| Academic year | Average tuition at U.S. 4-year public institutions | England's tuition cap |
| 1998-99 | $3,247 | $1,667 |
| 2006-7 | $5,804 | $5,710 |
| 2012-13 (projected) | n/a | $10,972 |
| Note: Figures are not adjusted for inflation. Pounds are converted to dollars for September 1 of their respective years. The projected figure for England is based on a conversion of £7,000—the current figure suggested by the government as a possible cap—as of October 24, 2010. | ||
| Sources: The College Board, House of Commons Library, Chronicle reporting | ||
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National Expenditures |
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| United States | Britain | |
| Public expenditures on higher education as a percentage of GDP, 2007 1, 2 | 1.2% | 0.9% |
| All expenditures on higher education as a percentage of GDP, 20071 | 3.1% | 1.3% |
| Annual expenditure by higher-education institutions per student for all services, excluding research and development, 20071 | $24,230 | $9,0233 |
| 1. Includes vocational and trade schools. | ||
| 2. Public expenditure includes subsidies to households for living costs, which are not spent directly on educational institutions. | ||
| 3. Converted to U.S. dollars. | ||
| Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |
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Sources of Income |
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| Figures are not directly comparable because of the different structures of the two higher-education systems. | ||
| Percentage of higher-education revenue for 2008-9 coming from: | U.S. 4-year public institutions | British institutions |
| Government support | 23.8%1 | 34.8%2 |
| Tuition and fees | 17.9% | 28.7% |
| 1. Measured by state appropriations. | ||
| 2. Measured by grants from higher-education groups such as the Higher Education Funding Council for England. | ||
| Sources: Higher Education Statistics Agency, U.S. Education Department | ||
Compiled by Andrea Fuller and Beth McMurtrie.
Comments
1. daveapostles - October 27, 2010 at 05:51 am
Thank you - enlightening. You might consider too that the Coalition (Cable and Willetts, as the specific agents) were also considering a reduction in the science budget of £1bn, although it has been rescinded.
2. creamcity - October 27, 2010 at 10:38 am
Is this all British higher ed or only in England (per the footnote)?
3. engageabroad - October 27, 2010 at 02:19 pm
Creamcity. Great question! I do not know about N Ireland or Wales but in Scotland there is a strange situation where Scottish and other students from the European Union outside of the UK do not pay tuition to Scottish universities. However students from the rest of the UK (England, Wales and N Ireland) attending Scottish universities must pay fees!
It is interesting to see this in black and white but this comparison is only a very broad outline. Comparing every single higher education institution obscures major differences. Cambridge may have the equivalent tuition of many US colleges but not the kind Cambridge-qualified British students consider when they apply to US colleges. This is why Cambridge is also in favour of a move to higher tuition fees and/or eventually no caps.
Equally, a discussion of caps which only applies to local students tells little of the whole story. UK students have a cap but foreign student tuitions are far higher than the comparative in state to out of state tuitions in the US. So in England, foreign students have already been shouldering quite a bit of the burden.
Many are happy to do this because they see high tuition as an investment. When I first came here I discovered that years of subsidised tuition (but often high priced local housing) had not created the same mentality in British students or indeed government leaders who had received a top class education for £1000. Obviously, now those attitudes are having to change.