Only fifth place
“The fact that the university managed to maintain its position among the world elite can be considered a miracle. If radical measures are not taken, the quality of teaching at Oxford will drop,” – this is the sad conclusion drawn by the vice-chancellor. The ranking published in November last year by The Times also indicates that England's oldest university may indeed soon lose its position. Oxford occupies only fifth place in the list of the world's best higher education institutions. It was surpassed by US universities – Harvard (first place), Berkeley, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the California Institute of Technology.
Bursar
The university council is known to have unconditional faith in John Hood and is ready to listen to all his recommendations. He was, in fact, chosen to solve financial problems. While the nominal head of Oxford University is the chancellor, elected for life by the academic council, the head of the university administration is the vice-chancellor, elected for four years.
On October 5, 2004, for the first time in Oxford's 800-year history, a person from outside academia was chosen as vice-chancellor. John Hood is a New Zealander by origin; he graduated from the University of Auckland, where he received a doctorate in civil engineering. For several years he was vice-chancellor of Auckland, then headed New Zealand's largest companies: the agricultural concern Fonterra, the construction group Fletcher Challenge, and the New Zealand Cricket Association.
Tuition fees
Tuition fees for higher education in the UK are set by the government, and currently students from Britain and the other 24 EU member states pay only £1,150 per year. In reality, the cost of one year of study at UK higher education institutions averages £18,600. Recently, the British government allowed raising tuition fees to £3,000 per year from 2006, but this does not solve the problem.
Seeking a way out of the situation, some college heads within Oxford University even suggested privatizing the institution and thereby setting its own fee rates. However, the university administration dissuaded them from such a step, reminding them that Oxford is in fact already a private enterprise, although it depends on the state for subsidies, which it would be extremely unwise to refuse.
At present, in order to improve the university's finances, John Hood proposes reducing the number of places for students from Britain and other EU countries and attracting as many foreign students as possible. Unlike citizens of the EU, all other Oxford students pay from £8,170 to £19,970 per year for their education (the price depends on the faculty and the number of courses voluntarily chosen by the student). According to the vice-chancellor's plan, in the coming years (the exact time frame has not yet been determined) the number of foreign students accepted annually for their first year will increase from 700 to 1,700 and will only grow further thereafter.
Repaying the debt
“Oxford needs to substantially increase private contributions,” is another point of John Hood's program. It notes that only 5% of Oxford graduates donate money to their alma mater each year, while in US universities, between 40 and 60% of former students do so. Last year Oxford received £58 million in various gifts and private investments, which looks quite modest compared to Harvard ($262 million) and Stanford ($250 million). True, the generosity of American degree holders is largely explained by the fact that charitable contributions are tax-deductible in the US, while in Britain the government does not provide such benefits.
Oxford University
Oxford is the oldest university in England and one of the oldest in Europe (founded in 1249). Roger Bacon, Erasmus of Rotterdam, and Thomas More taught here; 25 British prime ministers studied here, including the current head of government, Tony Blair (he studied law). Although Oxford University is de jure self-governing and administratively accountable only to parliament, financially it is almost entirely dependent on state subsidies.
Oxford University comprises 39 colleges and seven private halls. Each department is engaged in the study and teaching of its particular branch of knowledge: theology, law, medicine, classical or modern literature, history, mathematics, etc. The university also includes a number of specialized research institutes and laboratories, several museums, and the largest university library, founded in 1602.
In 2004, 11,086 people became students of Oxford University: 10,045 UK citizens, 349 EU citizens, and 692 citizens of other states. For comparison: 11 years earlier, in 1994, the number of first-year students was 9,846.
Best of the best
At the end of 2004, the newspaper The Times Higher Education Supplement (a supplement to The Times) published a list of the world's 200 leading higher education institutions. It was compiled based on a survey of 1,300 university teachers from 88 countries, who gave their assessments taking into account the intellectual potential of universities (volume of research work), the ratio of students to teachers, the attractiveness of the institution for foreign students, as well as the international standing of the educational institution in the global higher education market.
The top ten of the ranking looks as follows: Harvard (USA), University of California at Berkeley (USA), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA), California Institute of Technology (USA), Oxford (UK), Cambridge (UK), Stanford (USA), Yale University (USA), Princeton (USA), and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (Switzerland). Then follow various universities and institutes of Europe, Asia, and Australia.