[physarum_salad]

The international student Harry Potter experience economy model is not actually working for British universities. If your idea of a university is: outputting high quality research and developing the next cohort of researchers/other talented people who go into industry, etc.

Another lesser problem is the half-baked REF system.

[dan-robertson]

The range of institutions called universities in the UK is large and I think you are conflating properties of one end of the range with properties of the other.

[physarum_salad]

I disagree. Oxbridge, LSE, Edinburgh, etc appear equally as susceptible. In fact in top London universities it seems to be worse - prestige attracts more international students.

I also agree in the sense that there are less prestigious universities that appear to operate as if they are almost Chinese/in China.

Both are major concerns I would have thought.

[random9749832]

Source: Went to UCL, they have a bunch of made up degrees that only international students sign up for.

[dan-robertson]

Is this statement based on your recent undergraduate experience or on something else?

[physarum_salad]

I don't need to divulge personal information to make a point. See comment below. I think it is pretty apparent to anyone with any interactions with universities in the U.K. and in other countries. The fact that it is now a geopolitical tool for China is pretty concerning.

[random9749832]

They don't care. Universities have been taken over by parasites (like a lot of sectors).

[physarum_salad]

Yeah it's just funny that its more akin to a sector in the tourism industry than academic or research. There are obviously pockets of world-class research and brilliant academics but the pressures in the opposite direction are pretty insane due to the business incentives.

[refulgentis]

Two HN posters telling each other “exaaaaactlyyyy”, and the premise is universities are same as tourism.

(full disclosure: I dropped out of state school with a 2.8 GPA in economics and got a job at Google 5 years later. yet, I can avoid this fallacy, so it's disturbing to see)

[physarum_salad]

Congratulations on avoiding going to university.

The point about the tourism/finishing school aspect of universities in Britain is widely held and has been reported on for years. It was inevitable that it would provide China with leverage and other things. Not a good idea imo.

[refulgentis]

Alas, I did attend, but dropped out. (as noted)

We also went on a bit of a walk back from the bailey to the motte. "sector in the tourism industry" to "tourism/finishing school aspect" (tourism ~= finishing school now?).

Then, a vague hand wave towards "wide reporting" for...the original idea that universities are tourism? Or one of the new ones, like universities have an aspect of finishing school? Unclear.

[physarum_salad]

My argument:

- U.K. universities have pivoted to being a finishing school (e.g. you cannot fail if you pay enough money) and Harry Potter experience for international students. -This affects all levels of prestige. Harms research. - Is a geopolitical leverage tool of unknown power. Interesting example linked by poster.

This is well known in most of Western Europe as a phenomena and some naive people love it because it makes short term profits: https://opportunities-insight.britishcouncil.org/short-artic...

[physarum_salad]

Also I genuinely love your educational progression and kudos for it!