Oxford University to reduce intake of UK students in favour of foreigners
Oxford University is to reduce its intake of British undergraduate students in order to increase the proportion coming from overseas.
The academic “rebalancing” strategy, announced yesterday, was part of an attempt to increase competition for places further and “improve quality” according to John Hood, the vice-chancellor.
Non-EU nationals make up about 7 per cent of Oxford's undergraduate body, a figure Dr Hood would like to raise to 12 per cent. UK universities have seen a sharp rise in the numbers of students coming from overseas in recent years, with most of the growth coming from Asia.
Dr Hood, a New Zealander, said he also wanted to challenge American institutions' research supremacy through the proposed changes, which include expanding the number of graduate researchers at Oxford from the current comparatively low level.
A greater influx of foreigners should also improve the university's stretched finances. The strategy document warned of a “deeply problematic funding environment”, despite a planned increase for tuition fees in 2006 for students from the UK and the European Union to a maximum of ￡3,000 a year from ￡1,200. Non-EU students, by contrast, pay close to ￡10,000 a year. University heads throughout the UK are increasingly relying on higher fee-paying non-EU students to balance their budgets.
Outlining its consultation on wide-ranging reforms to the university, the management team, headed by Dr Hood, said it did not share the views of some heads of Oxford's 39 colleges who have threatened to take the institution private to avoid government regulation.
“Some members of the university have become so frustrated by the constraints imposed by government that they have called for privatisation,” the document said.
“Oxford is, in fact, a private institution already but one which is dependent on government for a significant part of its income. What Oxford needs is not to forego income from public sources but to increase its private income substantially.”
More public money and more private revenue would be needed to prevent a decline in the university's international competitiveness, he warned.
The strategic plan also outlined the need to improve alumni and philanthropic fundraising to supplement earnings from other commercial activities such as licensing and the Oxford University Press.
牛津大学将增加海外生源
牛津大学(Oxford University)将减招英国籍本科生，以增加海外生源比例。
副校长约翰?胡德(John Hood)表示，昨天宣布的这一生源“再调整”战略，是进一步增加生源地的竞争、“提高质量”努力的一部分。
非欧盟国家公民占牛津本科生生源的约7%，胡德博士想要把这一数字提高至12%。近年来，英国各大学的海外留学生人数急剧上升，新增生源大多来自亚洲。
新西兰人胡德博士表示，他也希望通过这些拟议的变革措施，挑战美国院校在研究领域的至高地位。这些变革包括扩大牛津的研究生人数，目前该数字处于相对较低的水平。
增加外国学生的招生人数还应能改善牛津大学资金吃紧的状况。尽管计划在2006年把英国和欧盟学生每年的学费从1200英镑提至最高达3000英镑，但该战略文件警告说，“筹资环境十分成问题”。相比之下，非欧盟学生每年学费接近1万英镑。英国各大学的领导们为了平衡预算，正日益依赖支付更高学费的非欧盟学生。
牛津大学这次改革牵涉面广。由胡德博士领导的管理团队概述了改革的征求意见内容，表示不同意牛津大学39个学院部分负责人的观点，这些人曾威胁要将该机构私有化，以避免政府监管。
“政府施加的诸多限制措施已使大学的一些成员变得十分灰心，因而要求私有化，”该文件表示。
“牛津事实上已经是一个私有机构，但大学的大部分收入要依赖政府。牛津所需要的不是放弃来自公共部门的收入，而是大幅增加来自私人部门的收入。”
他警告说，为了防止牛津大学的国际竞争力下降，牛津需要更多的公共资金和私人部门收入。
该战略性计划还概述了改善校友和慈善筹资的必要性，以补充来自许可转让和牛津大学出版社等其它商业活动带来的收入。
