<p>Ivy League generosity is luring brightest away from Oxbridge </p>
<p>"Yale, in particular, has stepped up its efforts to attract state school applicants."</p>
<p>Nicola Woolcock and Suzy Jagger </p>
<p>A record number of talented British teenagers are snubbing Oxbridge and applying to Ivy League universities, lured by more substantial American bursaries. Students from families whose household income is £90,000 qualify for financial assistance at Harvard. It also recently raised its threshold for free tuition and board for the poorest students. </p>
<p>Leading British schools say that some of their highest-achieving pupils no longer see Oxford and Cambridge as the pinnacle. Instead they are attracted by the broader curriculum and supposedly superior facilities at Ivy League universities an elite group of eight in the northeast of the United States. It raises fears that the cream of British students will increasingly look abroad, potentially undermining the global standing of our top universities. </p>
<p>The number of British students applying to Harvard was 197 five years ago. By last year it had risen to 290. Applications to Yale from British teenagers have more than trebled from 74 in 1997 to 234 last year. </p>
<p>Harvard students whose parents income is less than £30,000 have all tuition fees, accommodation, living expenses and flights home paid by the university a package worth almost £25,000. Those with household earnings of between £30,000 and £90,000 have to contribute only between 4 and 10 per cent of their income. </p>
<p>Even families earning more than £100,000 can be entitled to assistance if they have dependants such as elderly relatives, or more than one child at university. William Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions and financial aid at Harvard, said: We just take the best people wherever they apply from, and we fly to the UK every year to talk to schools about it. </p>
<p>Leading independent schools said that an increasing number of pupils had set their sights on the Ivy League. </p>
<p>Clarissa Farr, High Mistress of St Pauls Girls School in London, said that about 15 sixth-formers were applying to American universities this year, a big increase on previous years. </p>
<p>She said: They see themselves operating on a worldwide stage. Our students still see Oxbridge as very desirable, but other pinnacles are appearing beyond those mountains. </p>
<p>For many, she said, the attraction was that students did not need to choose their specialist subject until their second year. </p>
<p>Ms Farr added: The American universities are very well resourced and their facilities are much bigger. There is also a huge range of scholarships and bursary programmes. </p>
<p>Anthony Seldon, Master of Wellington College in Berkshire, said that about 10 per cent of his pupils were applying to American universities this year. He said: I think British universities have had it too easy for too long, with students queueing up to join them. Its a stimulus to British universities and good for them to have some com-petitition. US univerities offer a great deal that UK universities dont: far broader courses, much greater recognition of all-round achievement and richer extracurricular life. They have a more generous student/teacher ratio. </p>
<p>Vicky Tuck, Principal of Chelten-ham Ladies College, said that more than a dozen of her pupils had applied for American universities this year. There has certainly been an increase over the past two or three years, she said. Some of the girls see their life prospects being enhanced by going to a good US university. </p>
<p>American universities are so well funded through philanthropic donations, its just astonishing. I had one pupil from Poland who was offered places at Cambridge and Massachu-setts Institute of Technology. MIT had a huge bursary and she couldnt afford to go to Cambridge, so she went to America instead. </p>
<p>Mrs Tuck said that in such a competitive markent Oxbridge could start to lose some of its best candidates. People who want the best will go overseas if they think theyre not getting it here. </p>
<p>Students at British universities are now an average of £30,000 in debt when they graduate. But the brightest applicants can emerge debt-free from an American education because at some Ivy League universities admissions tutors have no idea whether applicants can afford their fees and are determined to attract elite students from around the world, regardless of cost. They can easily afford to do so with alumni donations creating huge endowments. Harvards is worth $35 billion (£17.6 billion) which is more than the combined annual funding for all English universities. </p>
<p>Key differences </p>
<p> American undergraduate degrees are four years long, compared with three at British universities </p>
<p> There are two semesters a year. Students usually move into college during the last days of August </p>
<p> British students have to take the SAT1 (general) exam and then can use A levels to apply </p>
<p> American universities do not offer law, medicine or architecture courses at undergraduate level. They are graduate courses only </p>
<p>Ivy</a> League generosity is luring brightest away from Oxbridge - Times Online</p>
<hr>
<p>It sounds like the American dream but make sure you do the math </p>
<p>John OLeary: Analysis </p>
<p>The worlds leading universities now compete for students far beyond their own boundaries, just as they have for many years where star professors and Nobel Prizes are concerned. </p>
<p>With American universities dominating the world rankings, they are a natural alternative to Oxbridge for high-flyers looking for a broad education and something extra on their curriculum vitae. There is also a stream of British students crossing the Atlantic for sports scholarships, often at less glamorous state universities. </p>
<p>It was the controversy over Laura Spences recruitment by Harvard University seven years ago, after she had been rejected to read medicine by Magdalen College, Oxford, despite predictions of five A grades at A level, that alerted many parents and schools to the possibility of an American education. Since then, Ivy League representatives have become frequent visitors at the leading independent schools in Britain. </p>
<p>But, while the numbers crossing the Atlantic have been growing, it is still an option limited mainly to wealthy parents or those with American connections. Although there are generous bursary schemes at all the leading universities, degrees are a year longer than in England and, even with discounted fees, the US experience does not come cheaply. </p>
<p>As at Oxford and Cambridge, potential students who would qualify for free education those from the poorest families are the least likely to consider it. And, such is the wealth of many American students at Ivy League universities, they would find themselves in a minority of a minority if they did go. </p>
<p>A few of the top universities, such as Harvard and Yale, offer needs-blind admission regardless of nationality, to ensure that high fees do not exclude students from poor families. But few such students meet the exacting entry requirements, partly because (as in Britain) they often attend the least successful schools, while middle-income Americans have struggled to meet the costs. </p>
<p>Yale, in particular, has stepped up its efforts to attract state school applicants. Two of the universitys seven English recruits this year were from the state system. But it is those who are too affluent to qualify for state support in England who may find the American alternative increasingly attractive, as top-up fees rise. </p>
<p>Others turn to the top American universities for postgraduate education after a first degree at home. With postgraduate fees already deregulated in England, the difference in cost can be less than at undergraduate level, especially since the course will last one or two years, rather than four. At Yale, for example, Tony Blairs son Euan is among 150 British postgraduates, who far outnumber their undergraduate countrymen. </p>
<p>Those who opt for an Ivy League education are often amazed by the facilities on offer. Princeton, for example, which is small even by British standards, has three swimming pools. Student residences at leading universities have more in common with plush apartment blocks than traditional halls. </p>
<p>This is because fee levels of up to $50,000 (£25,200) a year have created expectations far in advance of those in Britain and the funding received from alumni, as well as the state, has enabled the top private universities to keep the customer satisfied. Universities on this side of the Atlantic will find it hard to compete until they can convince their graduates to dip into their own pockets. </p>
<p>The United States is the top destination for the rapidly expanding numbers of internationally mobile students of all nationalities, although Britain is next in popularity. The sheer size of the American higher education system made that inevitable, but visa restrictions have led to a drop in numbers since the September 11 attacks in 2001. </p>
<p>Growth has now resumed, and British universities will encounter increasingly stiff competition, both for home students and those from other parts of the world. </p>
<p>John OLeary is the editor of The Times Good University Guide and a former education editor of The Times </p>
<p>When to apply </p>
<p>Each university is different and potential applicants must check with the one in which they are interested but, broadly, the timetable is: </p>
<p> End of December deadline for applications for a university place (some schools do have earlier application processes) </p>
<p> End of February deadline for applications for financial aid </p>
<p> April Successful applicants find out that they are being offered a place </p>
<p> May Potential students must decide whether to take up the place </p>
<p> End of August University terms start (although Harvards is later)</p>