The challenges facing University Inc may ultimately usher in a new era of education. One where the role that elite universities have historically played as gatekeepers on knowledge, prestige and access begins to fall away and the very best education becomes available to any-and-all (with or without a fee). The world may ultimately end up having... See more

State investment into public education and cultural infrastructure gave the UK some of its most important contemporary cultural movements: kitchen-sink realism, post-punk, Britpop - waves of creativity built by working-class kids who suddenly had access to literacy, art, theory, rehearsal rooms, grants, time. But as higher education is economically... See more

In some respects, this is the holy grail of institutes of higher learning: earning more without actually accepting more (and losing their rarified luster). Over the past forty years, most universities seem to have solved this problem by radically increasing pricing — a move that both relies on and fortifies brand power.