The Guardian view on Cambridge’s £190m gift: billionaires won’t fix universities’ problems | Editorial

The Guardian view on Cambridge’s £190m gift: billionaires won’t fix universities’ problems Editorial Philanthropy increases the gap dividing highly selective, elite higher education from the rest. Ministers need a plan for the sector overall A bout 2% of UK universities’ income came from donations and endowments in 2024-25 – slightly less than the previous year. At a time when charitable giving overall is down , the announcement last week of a record £190m donation to the University of Cambridge deserves to be welcomed. Higher education funding should not depend on the choices of rich individuals. But education is a social good and philanthropy has a role to play. The donor is Chris Rokos, a British billionaire hedge fund manager who describes himself as a socially liberal centrist and has previously given money to the Conservative party. The money will fund a postgraduate school of government that is intended to rival the one at Oxford, which was controversially funded by, and named after, the Ukrainian-born billionaire Sir Leonard Blavatnik . The UK’s two richest universities already attract a disproportionate share of educational philanthropy. It is less than a year since they announced a £6.5m gift to be shared between them. The other institutions that attract the biggest donations are in London, while Manchester has had success with a campaign launched to mark its bicentenary. But overall, huge disparities in fundraising serve to increase the gap that already divides the oldest and most selective institutions from the rest. With applications for places from the UK slightly up, the sector’s overall position has marginally improved. But with international student numbers down, a new levy on their fees on the way and an increase in domestic fees that is not enough to cover inflation, some institutions remain in a parlous position. Dundee is in the process of being bailed out by the Scottish government. With figures from the Office for Students due next month, arou...