Links for 10/18/10

Doug Lederman

Like many European countries, England had long erred on the side of striving to keep student fees low. In 2006, as economic conditions began to worsen and the unsustainability of the country's financing model became clearer, the central government approved a controversial plan to nearly triple the ceiling on what universities could charge students, from £1,175 to £3,000 a year (roughly $5,500 at the time, given the exchange rate then). Perhaps predictably, virtually every institution charged that much, essentially turning the figure from a cap into the floor.

Britain's financial condition has only worsened since then, and with it becoming increasingly clear that the country's current model for financing higher education was not sustainable, the government appointed a panel of civic leaders to propose a way forward. The sweeping report … is highly controversial, and because it was commissioned by a different administration from the divided government that is now running the country, its fate is highly uncertain…

The proposed shift would move the British system of financing higher education "more toward an American system" of differentiated tuition, with students picking up more of the costs…

Martin Wolf

a report by the committee under Lord Browne...

In all, however, this report provides the only sensible way forward, given the constraints on public spending and the need to sustain high-quality institutions. It is right that students should pay for the huge private benefits they gain from university education. It is right, too, to bring in market forces. The changes will bring pain. But the upside is also huge...

Ben Miller

some of the biggest higher ed lobbying associations even came out against changes that would have improved the graduation rate calculation.

And that’s ultimately why constant arguments about the federal graduation rate, while accurate in their merits, aren’t made on good faith. If the problem is so bad, lobby for a change that produces graduation rates for part-time or transfer-in students.

This pattern of complaints without solution provides perfect cover for colleges to explain away bad graduation rates...

The best way to track outcomes for groups like transfers is to establish a student unit record system–a national database of individual-level information. But this database is arguably the most hated policy idea among the trade associations...

The combination of an awesome video with a British accent is obscenely persuasive.