Financial Times: US companies in UK degree plan
Profit-making US education companies are planning to offer degrees in the UK, tempted by the introduction of top-up fees and the continuing attractiveness of Britain to foreign students.
A senior executive at a US education company said last year’s introduction of £3,000 top-up fees payable by undergraduates “levels the playing field” between Britain’s public-sector universities, which used to charge undergraduates nothing, and US fee-charging, for-profit universities.
The Chronicle News Blog: American For-Profit Universities Plan Push Into British Market
The chief executive of Bridgepoint Education, a for-profit business based in San Diego, says his company plans to offer degrees in Britain within the next two years, the Financial Times reported today.
Bridgepoint will join Kaplan Higher Education International, which plans to apply for degree-awarding powers in Britain next year. Beginning last fall, British universities were permitted to raise tuition to as much as £3,000 ($6,115) a year for undergraduates, and Bridgepoint’s CEO, Andrew Clark, says the higher rate “levels the playing field” for American for-profit universities hoping to make inroads into the British market.
Last month a British company, BPP Professional Education, became the first for-profit organization to be awarded degree-granting powers in Britain.
Both Bridgepoint and Kaplan are expected to focus at first on graduate courses, for which British universities also charge higher fees, but plan to expand eventually into the undergraduate market. According to the Financial Times, Bridgepoint expects to be able to do so with tuition rates not much higher than the current British fees. —Aisha Labi
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