Oxford’s Vice-Chancellor, Irene Tracey, has encouraged graduates to “get behind our British universities” with donations.
In a recent interview with The Telegraph, she claimed that, with increased donations, universities would not have to rely on international fees, a “vulnerability in the system.” The VC emphasised how, historically, thanks to the generosity of Oxford’s alumni, the University’s leaders “have not, thankfully, been driven to a model where [they] are dependent financially on the international fee structure.”
This generosity of Oxford alumni has been substantial in recent years: In 2021/22, the University received over £249 million in donations, the second largest total received in a single year. Oxbridge accounts for almost half of all donations made to UK universities over the last decade.
The Chief Development Officer, Liesl Elder, declared that these philanthropic tendencies are “[…] testament to both the impact that Oxford is making in the world through the delivery of transformational teaching and research, and the generosity of our donors.”
Alumni donations have long been intertwined with Oxford’s funding: from Dr John Radcliffe’s donation in 1714 that paved the way for the construction of the now-iconic Radcliffe Camera, to the £30 million that Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones KBE gifted to Worcester College just last year, which will fund a graduate accommodation building and a new library.
However, amid recent changes to student loans and difficulties with cost of living, some have raised questions about whether today’s graduates are prepared to “give back” to their alma maters after having already accrued an average of £45,000 of debt as a result of their education.
In 2023, the student loan debt in England surpassed £200 billion for the first time, likely amplifying any reluctance felt by graduates to donate to their universities. However, loan repayments also saw an increase, reaching over £4 billion in 2022-23 due partially to higher inflation, which may have positively affected borrower salaries.
Oxford’s own student population is characterised by a large proportion of international students. 46% of the student body are international students, coming from more than 160 different countries. This is nearly double the national average of 24% overseas students.
According to a study conducted by The Council for Advancement and Support of Education and More Partnership, annual donations to UK universities have doubled over the last decade. Recent years have also seen public funding for these institutions plummet, now reaching its lowest level since the 1990s: in 2020, 32% of universities reported an in-year deficit compared to just 5% in 2016. Whilst donations to UK universities reached £1.5 billion in 2022, the Russell Group estimates that it lost an average of £2,500 for every home student last year, thus explaining this reliance on donations and steep international fees.
