British institutions have made a dismal showing in a Chinese list of the world's top universities, prompting fears that the rankings could increase financial woes at British universities.
Although Cambridge and Oxford made the top ten, in fifth and tenth place respectively, the list produced by Shanghai's Jiaotong University was dominated by American institutions, which won 17 of the top 20 spots.
Places at American universities, with their superior facilities, wealthy alumni networks and massive financial endowments that enable them to offer scholarships to the brightest minds, are prized in China far above places in British universities. Post-graduation job prospects in the US are often perceived as superior to those in the UK.
British universities have become increasingly reliant on fees paid by non-EU students, and the Jiaotong report could prove damaging. The number of foreign students in Britain has grown rapidly over the last five years in an industry that generates 25 billion pounds and helps to fund British universities. Chinese students make up 12 percent - or about 50,000 - of foreign students in the UK. Typically they will spend a further 15,000 pounds in living costs, boosting the campus economy and helping, indirectly, to subsidize facilities and tuition for British students who pay a fraction of the foreigners' fees.
But with British institutions like University College London (21)， Imperial College (26)， and University of Manchester (44) falling so far down the scale, Chinese students seemed likely to turn their sights towards America. "Basically, taking a place at a British university is saying that you are not part of the elite. The really best minds will get funded positions in American and only the lesser ones, or the children of the wealthy and politically connected, would bother to go to Britain," said a doctoral student at Peking University.