What elite US universities can learn from Oxbridge

Both the US and the UK have already selected their adult elite, with some 18-year-olds enrolling in brand-name universities. Everyone else in every age group essentially said, “Sorry kids, probably not in this lifetime.”

The happy few come disproportionately from wealthy families. Many Ivy League colleges take in more students from the top 1 percent of household income than the bottom 60 percent. Both countries have long been concerned about how to diversify student numbers. Lots of American liberals worry that parental privilege will become more entrenched at some point this month, when the Supreme Court is expected to strike down race-conscious affirmative action in university admissions.

Whatever the court decides, American colleges have ways to make themselves more meritocratic. They could learn from Britain’s elite universities, which have become vastly more diverse in class and ethnicity over the years. It’s doable, but only if you want to do it – which America probably doesn’t.

Government pressure helped Oxford and Cambridge to reshuffle admissions. (And yes, we have to focus on Oxbridge because it is the main gateway to the adult elite.) On a recent visit to both universities, I was amazed by the range of accents and the scale of change. Oxbridge colleges now aim for “relevant admissions”, which involves the use of algorithms to predict how far candidates have suffered to reach their academic level. For example: was your school private or state? What proportion of students got free school meals? Did your parents go to university?

Admissions tutors compare candidates’ performance in GCSEs – British exams at age 16 – against their classmates. Getting seven As in a school where the average is 10 counts for four more than getting a seven in a school. The brightest child in a disadvantaged school is probably smarter than the 50th-best Etonian.

Oxbridge has made admissions interviews less terrifying for disadvantaged students, who often suffer from impostor syndrome. If a bright working-class kid froze up in an interview, an Oxford tutor told me he’d think: “I’m not going to let you talk out of place here.” And to counter the interview coaching that private school students receive, Oxford increasingly texts candidates they haven’t seen before.

Oxbridge hosts endless summer schools and open days for disadvantaged children. The head of an Oxford college is said to have visited at least one school every day of the session. Pupils are shown around by students from a similar background. The message to the kids is: “You belong here.”

It is working. State schools provided a record 72.5 per cent of Cambridge’s British undergraduate admissions last year. From 2018 to 2022, more than one in seven UK-settled Oxford graduates came from “socio-economically disadvantaged areas”. Twenty-eight per cent of Oxford students identified as “black and ethnic minority”; Slightly more graduates are now women than men. Academics tell me that less privileged students are more likely to experience social or mental-health problems, but generally get good degrees. These universities have not relaxed their standards. On the contrary, by widening the talent pool, they are looking for more talent.

Elite American colleges could do the same without affirmative action. First, he must end affirmative action for white applicants. A study led by Peter Arcidiacono of Duke University found that more than 43 percent of white undergraduates admitted to Harvard from 2009 to 2014 were recruited from athletes, children of alumni, the “Dean’s Interest List” (usually relatives of donors) or “The Kid” was recruited. of faculty and staff”. Three-fourth would not have been found otherwise. This form of corruption does not exist in the UK. A longtime Oxford admissions tutor told me that one could go decades in his job without ever offering a donation as bait to get a student admitted. Nor do British alumni expect preferential treatment for their children.

The solutions to many American social problems are obvious if politically inexplicable: Ban guns, negotiate drug prices with drug companies. Similarly, elite US universities can become less elite systems by agreeing to live with more modest endowments – though still the world’s largest. Harvard’s endowment of $50.9bn is more than six times that of the most elite British universities.

But American colleges probably won’t change, says Martin Carnoy of the Stanford School of Education. Their business model relies on funding from wealthy people who expect something in return. He adds: “It is the same with the electoral system. Once you divert private money to the public good, it becomes unfair.”

Both countries have had fake meritocracies for a long time. America wants to stay united.

Follow Simone on Twitter @coopersimon and email it simon.kuper@ft.com

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