Top academics in Britain, including an Indian-born economist, on Sunday announced the setting up of a private college in London, which will charge tuition fees of £18,000 a year, to rival world-famous Oxbridge.
The privately-funded independent college, called New College of the Humanities, will be based at Bloomsbury in central London and will start accepting students for eight undergraduate humanities degrees from September next year. The £18,000 annual fees are the same for both UK and international students.
Fourteen world-renowned academics and intellectuals, including philosopher A.C. Grayling, economist Sir Partha Dasgupta, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, and historian Niall Ferguson, who are part of the project, will teach students in the new independent university college. Sir Partha, son of the well-known Indian economist Amiya Dasgupta, teaches at present at the Universities of Cambridge and Manchester.
The college describes itself as a new model of higher education for the humanities in Britain and will award degrees from the University of London, in addition to a special diploma. Aiming to offer the highest quality of education, all students will be required to take three intellectual skill modules in science literacy, logic and critical thinking and applied ethics, in addition to regular classes for humanities subjects like law, economics, history, philosophy and English literature. “They will also be taught practical professional skills to prepare them for the world of work, including financial literacy, teamwork, presentation and strategy,” the college said in a statement.
Prof. Grayling, who will be its first Master, said in a statement on Sunday: “At NCH we believe in the importance of the humanities and excellence in education. Our students will be challenged to develop as skilled, informed and reflective thinkers, and will receive an education to match that aspiration.”
“Society needs us to be thoughtful voters, good neighbours, loving parents and responsible citizens. If we are to discover and inspire the next generation of lawyers, journalists, financiers, politicians, civil servants, writers, artists and teachers, we need to educate to the highest standards and with imagination, breadth and depth,” Prof. Grayling said.