U.K. Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Education Vince Cable has urged a rethinking of how universities are financed, as well as what they are expected to deliver for the public money they receive. For example: 

  • Graduates could be charged for the cost of their university education via an income-dependent tax.
  • Private universities could become a part of the U.K. higher-ed landscape.
  • Cambridge and Oxford could be required to set quotas for students from state schools.

Institutions, said Cable, need to work with the government to think “creatively about fairer mechanisms” for financing higher education.Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education