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There is a concern among UK students that universities there are “creaking at the limits” due to tremendous rise in tuition fees. This in turn has resulted in an influx of UK students especially in our Ivy League colleges.

Many students are increasingly seeking to study at the elite universities of our country according to Guardian study figures. This study was conducted among seven prestigious institutions in our country.

At least 500 applications from British students have made their way to the Harvard University. Most of them are for the undergraduate courses starting this autumn. Figures show that numbers have increased by one third as compared to last year.

In the last five years, enrollment of British students has practically doubled in Princeton and Yale. According to the Institute of International Education report on overseas students studying in America, the year 2004 saw at least 8,274 students studying in our universities. This figure rose to 8,861 in the year 2009 and this year the figure is all set to be higher than this.

There are varied opinions about this trend. A head teacher says that this could be due to rise in tuition fee and could also be due to concerns over fall in standard and quality of education in British universities.

King’s College is a public school in Wimbledon. Andrew Halls, a head teacher of this school says that maybe universities in UK are creaking at the limits. According to him students, especially the 13 to 16 year olds prefer applying to US universities. This is because, there is a general feeling that unless you attend Cambridge or Oxford, you do not get to learn enough in other universities.

He says that universities in America offer a holistic approach to education. Students in America enjoy their extracurricular activities encouraged by their schools and colleges. UK students want just that. Parents in UK feel it is worth making a financial sacrifice to send their children to Universities in our country.

Undergraduate courses spread over four years. For a student coming from UK, cost of studying in Ivy League university is around £37,000 ($60,000) a year. According to the UK-US Fulbright Commission advisory head Lauren Welch, this year was unprecedented for many universities in US which took advantage of the opportunity and enrolled many more British students.

The Fulbright Commission is involved with encouraging UK-US education exchange programs.
They are all striving to bring awareness to students of the American alternative. They realize that UK pupil places may be capped due to threefold increase in tuition fees. According to Welch, profile of students opting to study in America is changing too.

She says that most students were usually from South West and Greater London who were from international or independent schools. Now, she says, you can find an increasing number of students applying from grammar and state schools.

She says that today a wider section of UK population is making a bee-line for US universities. Now, isn’t this an encouraging trend for our country, especially with the depressing higher education scenario?