Following the release of The College Disparities Report, a subsequent College Disparities Campaign has announced its launch. The Campaign uses the findings of the report and suggests solutions to the problems, most notably creating an Endowment Fund, to balance out financial disparities between colleges. An open letter to the Vice-Chancellor, Irene Tracey, will be sent urging the University to take action. On Monday 29th April, a university-wide email from the Student Union (SU) will encourage all students to sign the letter, available to read now on the Campaign’s website.
The report, largely written by the current SU President, Danial Hussain, exposed great financial inequality between colleges, including analysing colleges’ yearly income, academic performance, financial aid systems and accommodation costs.
It also finds a direct correlation between college wealth and high positions in the Norrington Table, which ranks colleges according to the proportion of students receiving each class of degree. Merton College, St John’s College and Christ Church College are consistently some of the wealthiest colleges, and each year they place in the top quarter. The unfair nature of this is highlighted in the report; it also found that one third of students end up in colleges they did not apply to.
Danial Hussain told Cherwell: “the vast disparities in rent are the most materially significant effect of college disparities on the average student.” The report showed that there are higher rents for poorer colleges than in richer colleges. For example, Christ Church offers a subsidised rent of up to 50% for “undergraduates from lower-income households”. Hussain continues, “I will push for a median rent across all colleges – a tangible solution to even out the student experience.”
Co-organisers of the College Disparities Campaign, Danial Hussain and Cem Kozanoglu told Cherwell: “the College Disparities Campaign will build on the report’s findings…” They have proposed a solution in the form of an Endowment Fund. The report explains it as “a sustainable endowment fund which provides reliable funding to the poorest colleges at predetermined rates.” This would come at the cost of disbanding the current College Contribution Scheme, which is a fund that colleges with taxable incomes over £45 million contribute to that poorer colleges can apply for grants from.
The Campaign stresses that the Endowment Fund would not slow the growth of richer colleges. Instead, their website states that due to richer college’s higher-growth assets, such as stocks and bonds, they will be able “to grow their endowment even after contributing to the Endowment Fund.”
The Campaign’s open letter urges the University to create an Endowment Fund as well as implementing other solutions, such as establishing a College Disparities Committee and revising the 2027 Access and Participation Plan. The letter asks “the University to act swiftly and decisively to address these disparities” so that “all members of the Oxford community have the same opportunities to thrive, regardless of their college affiliation.”
Hussain and Kozanoglu told Cherwell: “Our priority is to mobilise support for our open letter […] to unite the Oxford community – from undergraduates and postgraduates to alumni and academics – in a collective effort to drive change.” On Monday 29th April, this open letter will be emailed to every student by the SU to “encourage them to sign”.
A spokesperson from the University of Oxford told Cherwell: “the central University provides one of the UK’s most generous packages of financial support through bursaries and scholarships” and that ” the Vice-Chancellor has in the last year also increased the funding available to those affected by the cost of living, through Oxford Financial Assistance.”
The Conference of Colleges told Cherwell: “We welcome discussion of how best to ensure an appropriate level of provision across colleges, regardless of their relative resources, and welcome student feedback.” Hussain and Kozanoglu told Cherwell: “The University has also shown a willingness to listen to student concerns in the past […] we’re confident that these recommendations will be seriously considered.”
While the College Disparities Campaign has acknowledged that “real change will take time” since “college disparities have been an issue for decades”, Hussain and Kozanoglu “are optimistic that […] this report and campaign can mark a turning point.”
SU President-elect Addi Haran told Cherwell: “I look forward to continuing Danial’s work, which is a watershed moment for tackling the disparities between colleges, and will make it a central focus as SU president next year.
