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‘We can’t go on like this’: British higher education as it is and as it could be

13th May 2009; 18:00

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RSA/Fulbright Commission Lecture

Professor Nigel Thrift, Vice-Chancellor, University of Warwick, argues that the British higher education system is a monotone ecology which is no longer fit for purpose, and which must change if it is to be able to cope with the shifts now going on in higher education around the world. He believes that the system needs to be redesigned so that it preserves and expands the educational and research capacity that has been successfully built up over the last twenty years. Half measures will not work.

In his RSA/Fulbright lecture, Professor Thrift will examine a series of policy options which, in concert, can deliver the kind of strong and diverse higher education system that the UK needs. These include: consolidation, foreign merger or takeover, privatization and specialization.

Professor Thrift will suggest that a California-style system might be adopted which includes community colleges, a state system, and a private system. This system can answer a number of needs at once, including diversity of educational experience, widening participation, and research prowess.

Speaker: Professor Nigel Thrift, Vice-Chancellor, University of Warwick

Chair: Matthew Taylor, chief executive, RSA

In association with The Fulbright Commission

Suggested hashtag for Twitter users: #rsathrift