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Faced with rising tuition fees and fears about
standards at home, more and more British students are heading off to
college in America. As Julie Henry discovers, prices are competitive
- and there are attractions not available in Britain.
It's lunchtime; a balmy 18C and Chevy Beh, a British
student, has just finished lectures for the day. After a few hours
on the polo field, the 21-year-old will return to his plush
£100-a-month apartment and plan a weekend trip to the mountains.
Welcome to higher education US-style.
Chevy, a former pupil at Wellington College, in
Berkshire, is studying at the University of Virginia, in
Charlottesville, and is one of a growing number of undergraduates
who are turning their backs on the British sector and opting to
study in America.
With a more consumerist outlook than previous
generations, the discerning new breed (and their parents) are
looking for academic excellence, value for money and a student
experience that goes beyond rain and red brick.
"It really is a beautiful, relaxed place," said
Chevy. "The campus is a world heritage site, the Blue Ridge
mountains are nearby and Washington DC is an hour and a half
away.
"I'm a big polo player and it was important that I
went to a university that could cater for that. I also think the US
system allows more flexibility and choice of courses: we don't
choose a major until our third year."
More than 8,400 British students are studying in the
US, and there is increasing interest in the opportunities afforded
by the country's 4,000 accredited colleges, whose degrees are
regarded as the equivalent of those gained from British
institutions.
One of the biggest catalysts has been the
introduction of £3,000-a-year top-up fees in England and Wales,
coupled with a lingering suspicion that the drive to get more
working-class pupils in to higher education is making it harder for
independent, or even grammar school, pupils to prove their edge.
Research by the Fulbright Commission, which funds
American exchanges, also revealed that better career prospects in
the global age was a major motivation for heading to America.
At the top end of the American market, tuition fees
of up to £20,000 a year at Ivy League institutions can look
off-putting. Academic standards are also extremely high. Applicants
need to be predicted A grades at A-level and score at least 700 out
of 800 in the SAT tests that most American colleges require
applicants to sit.
However, huge endowments at these institutions
(Harvard's £13.8 billion is more than three times the endowments of
Oxford and Cambridge combined) means they can afford to give
generous discounts.
The "early estimator" on Princeton University's
website, which works out aid entitlement, shows that an applicant
from a family with an income of £52,000 a year, that has other
children in college and £100,000 in the bank, would have to
contribute only about £3,000 a year to the £25,500-a-year cost of
tuition and upkeep.
"We are in the very strong position of being able to
offer financial assistance to everyone who needs it," says Janet
Rapelye, the dean of admissions. "What we would consider to be
middle-class families do qualify for aid."
High-quality degrees and financial assistance are
not just the preserve of Ivy League institutions. So-called "hidden
Ivy's" are private colleges that are, in American parlance, "good
schools". Many accept lower SAT results. Students at Reed College,
in Portland, Oregon, for instance, have average scores of between
660 and 710. Nearly half get financial support of about £15,500
towards the £22,800 cost of fees, room and board.
For British students who qualify for assistance,
life at a small, leafy campus in America might make a more
attractive proposition than paying £3,000 a year at a former
polytechnic in a grim, windswept commuter town, shelling out £300 a
month for a grotty single room in a shared house and paying £3 for a
pint of lager.
"Most people know only the big names on the East and
West coasts, but there are thousands of other US schools that are
offering very attractive environments, a low cost of living and
great opportunities for British students," said Anthony Nemecek, the
director of the Fulbright US Education Advisory Service.
On the down side, British students who take their
degrees at American universities do not qualify for loans from the
Student Loan Company, so must be prepared to fund their living costs
from elsewhere. Government restrictions on part-time jobs mean that
international students are allowed to work on campus, for only 20
hours a week.
America's publicly funded state universities, which
include world-ranking institutions such as the universities of
California, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, have also attracted
attention. Average fees are lower than at the Ivy League, at just
over £12,000 a year, but discounts are much harder to come by. For
pupils who have a talent in sport, music or even particular areas of
the curriculum, however, scholarships are worth investigating.
Seb and Anthony Anzevui, are former pupils at
Monk-seaton High, the school in Tyneside that produced Laura Spence,
whose rejection by Oxford and subsequent acceptance by Harvard
caused a political storm in 2000.
Anthony, 21, is on a £20,000 soccer scholarship at
Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Seb, 21, who is coaching at
Monkseaton, has an offer from Sacred Heart and is also applying to
other institutions on the East Coast, with sunny Florida top of the
list. "Anthony is having a great time," he said. "It's a really nice
place and they take their sport very seriously. His friends are from
all over the world."
Next week, a major conference on American university
admissions will be hosted at Wellington College. The interest has
been so great that the dean of admissions from Princeton, who is
speaking, has been asked to interview prospective candidates.
As Anthony Seldon, the Master of Wellington, puts
it: "Despite all the merits of Durham, Exeter and Bradford, I just
believe that studying in the US can be a more enriching experience
for some students." | 
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