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Tag: United Kingdom

The World’s Worst Student Loan System

If you read the UK education press at all, you’ll have noticed a serious uptick recently in the number of stories describing the current student loan system as “a scam” by  Government back-bench MPs and “a mess” by a former Deputy PM who played a large role in designing it. What’s going on, you ask? How bad is it? Well.. The problem with student finance in the UK is that Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, in their haste to modernize

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March 24, 2026 1 Comment

How UK Universities are Different

I spent a couple of days in late February in the UK at a meeting of the Higher Education Strategic Planning Association (HESPA). I found it interesting, not just because of the sessions themselves but because I actually got to understand something pretty important about how UK universities work. And friends, they do not work the way they do over here in our neck of the woods. I had noted from the outset that there wasn’t really any organization like

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March 9, 2025 1 Comment

The Friday Fifteen: September 13

Welcome to the first edition of The Friday Fifteen, bringing you fifteen interesting stories from around the world of higher education. This week, we’re checking out a new government in Bangladesh and ending on a rock band, with stops in New Zealand, North Korea, Norway, and the Netherlands along the way. Enjoy!

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September 13, 2024 1 Comment

Rhetoric and Realities: The Evolution of UK Higher Education with Nick Hillman

Hi everyone. I’m Alex Usher and this is The World of Higher Education Podcast. Higher education in the United Kingdom — and more specifically England — is in notably perilous financial shape. A quick glance at the London papers suggests that one or more institutions may be on the verge of a financial collapse. The culprits? A funding regime that has allowed funding to erode with inflation every year since 2012, and a mostly Brexit-related collapse in international student numbers. Sort

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September 12, 2024 No Comments

England’s Lifelong Learning Entitlement

Hi there. I’m Alex Usher and this is the World of Higher Education podcast. Over the past 25 years few countries have monkeyed around with tuition fees and student loans to the extent that the United Kingdom – or more specifically, England – has done. From free tuition in 1997 to income-tested fees of up to 1000 pounds in 1998, to 3000 pounds in 2006, to an absolutely stonking 9,000 pounds in 2012, England’s public higher education system is arguably the most

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March 14, 2024 No Comments

One Thought to Start Your Day

One Thought to Start Your Day is our founder and CEO Alex Usher’s popular daily blog, brimming with up-to-the-minute insights and informed opinions on today’s higher education industry.

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