Elitist Oxbridge? Why not?

So, universities are not "engines for promoting social justice," says Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Alison Richard. At least so far as this piece indicates, she does not actually seem to be all that elitist. She says that universities have a responsibility to engage in the best scholarship that they can. She is concerned about the government meddling in university affairs, and with the implications of doing research based on industrial demands. She also says that she hopes that financial situations do not deter students from attending top schools.

I don't see what's wrong with that. Is an education from Oxford or Cambridge a basic right? I don't think so. If it were, then everyone would go, and being swamped by students of all degrees of academic ability, top universities would end up failing at their ultimate goals of turning out the best possible scholars and workers. Schools like that simply aren't for everyone.

And here is a solid response. Simon Jenkins defends this bizarre notion that universities be engines of education. What a shock!

But he also calls Richard into question. He suggests that she wants to have her cake and eat it too--take money from the government, but not answer for it.

Anyhow, one of his crucial lines is this: "So chaotic is government research funding that university staff do too much that is too trivial and curtail their prime duty, to teach the young."

Government funding. Read: Bureaucracy and waste.

Jenkins concludes by calling on Oxford and Cambridge to cut the bonds of government and go freelance, charging the actual tuition for what courses cost. If this is going to exlude some people, well, come up with a program to help them afford it, but make those who can afford more pay more. Or take loans, on the assumption that a degree from Oxbridge, like one from the Ivy League schools in the States, will land someone a job that will enable paying off those loans. One of my teachers in high school said that attendance at such a school is basically an investment, with expected payout through hiring post-diploma. Sure, loans are a hassle, but remember--we're talking about Oxbridge here, not a red-brick institution.

That's all on this subject for now, but I'm sure I'll discuss it again.