First of all, I have never said UK universities are any worse than their American counterparts; all I have said - apologies for any miscommunication - is that no UK university can match their American counterparts. I had never claimed UK universities aren't as prestigious as American ones (if I am, why the **** would I be studying in a British university, when I could have easily gone to, and indeed been accepted to American colleges)
Let us consider what all the Middle Eastern Universities have done, which many universities with smaller funding haven't been able to do:
catch up at a phenomenal pace.
Do you know the significance of endowments and what they are used for? The UK doesn't lag in research, but it will certainly begin to show signs of financial difficulties should the governmental grants decrease, and they'd show very quickly. The actual research funds are not taken out of endowments - UCL has a multi-billion dollar MRC centre, but that money isn't the university's nor is it going to be invested into better facilities for students or quality of teaching. Should the UK government find itself at a position where it finds it difficult to fund research, endowments will play a key role in maintaining research projects. US colleges, with its higher endowments would be able to sustain what UK universities might view as being non-essential, including support for undergraduate studies. At the current rate, it seems your (I'd assume you're British, or maybe Middle Eastern - can't tell, sorry if I'm wrong) government seems to be running out of money (as many governments are), and is reducing the budget for general HE funding. With fees fixed, and funding outside of contracts with industries in decline, it'll be a matter of time until UK universities run out of money, literally. Look at the trend - most UK universities are highly specialised in terms of research interest and areas. Running such vast institutions on ever-declining money is difficult. Even my university had to close its Engineering (supposedly the oldest in the country) due to funding cuts. Not many big US universities shutting down departments due to lack of
funding, to draw a comparison.
Heck, even actual
academics (also
this) and
Oxford Vice Chancellor thinks this isn't sustainable.
Let's not forget Universities UK's brilliant response:
I have yet to hear someone who's more knowledgeable/in the field argue that UK doesn't face an endowment crisis, or a funding crisis. Yes, these cries are heard all around, but they seem to be more frequently heard in the UK. I'm not, by any stretch, a political specialist, but a lot of social welfare in the UK seems to be a taboo topic to actually discuss and solve. In all honesty, I cannot see how the UK can sustain this large level of financial support for students (which is of course, ideal and wonderful) in the long run.