The University of Oxford is trying to deal with the hot issue of its future at the moment, boiling down to whether it should stick to the present system or go independent (i.e. free itself from the government's reigns).
However, what caught my attention in the Economist article was that they are expecting me to pay for it!
"If Oxford declared independence, it would lose the £52m undergraduate subsidy at least. Could it fill the hole? Certainly. America's top universities charge around £20,000 per student per year. The difficult issue would not be money alone: it would be balancing numbers of not-so-brilliant rich people paying top whack with the cleverer poorer ones they were cross-subsidising. America's top universities manage it: high fees mean better teaching, which keeps competition hot and academic standards high, while luring enough donations to provide bursaries for the poor. It should be easier to extract money from alumni if Oxford were no longer state-funded."
Well, one day I might make enough money to be able to share it... So far I've chosen to hold onto it tight. When I was reimbursed for water problems while staying in college accommodation I was asked to donate the grand total sum of £250. I greedily rejected the "offer".
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ReplyDeleteShaking down alums is an art perfected at the Ivy Leagues. It requires too much time, organization and effort for anyone at Oxford to ever be bothered.
ReplyDeleteMy SCHOOL, Taunton School in Somerset, tries to shake me down at least once a year. It's clearly working on some of the alumni, as they've built a concert hall and new library from donations.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's not like it produces millionaires, either. Most Old Tauntonians are stalwart middle class citizens, comfortable but not loaded.
I think people really, truly love their alma mater.