Growing number of students head for America

World famous Harvard University alone has seen the number of applications from the UK rise by more than a third in the space of a year. It is believed that the cap on places for home students at English universities, coupled with the prospect of £9,000 fees from next year is fuelling the rise.

Figures obtained by the Press Association news agency from five out of eight Ivy League colleges, considered the most important in the US, show:

Harvard had around 500 applications to start courses this autumn, up from around 370 for last year – a 35 per cent increase;

Yale enrolled 36 UK students onto undergraduate courses last year, up from 25 in 2009 – a 44 per cent increase. Five years ago, in 2006, just 15 UK students enrolled;

Some 197 students in England and Wales alone have applied to start courses at Cornell this autumn, up from 176 last year;

Information from Columbia University shows that 178 UK students enrolled in 2009, up from 164 in 2008, and 151 in 2003;

Princeton University has seen a slight decrease, with 77 undergraduates enrolled in 2010, down from 81 in 2009. But the figures have more than doubled in the past five years, from 32 in the autumn of 2005;

Berkeley University, which is not an Ivy League college, but is well respected, has had 166 UK applications for this autumn, compared with 130 last year;

Indiana University, another leading, non-Ivy League institution has had nine UK applications for this autumn, compared to seven last year.

Ivy League universities typically charge between $35,000 (£22,000) and $45,000 (£28,000) a year in tuition fees.

According to the Fulbright Commission, which awards scholarships to the US and the UK, increasing numbers of US universities are seeking to recruit British students.

“The word is definitely getting out that this year is an unprecedented opportunity for US universities to recruit British students,” the commission said.

US institutions are aware that fees for English universities will triple for home students next year, and that there is a cap on places.

In 2009-10, a record 8,861 UK students were studying at US universities, the Commission said, compared with 8,274 in 2004-05.