The news that a new exclusive private university is set to open in London could be the catalyst for a number of similar facilities being set up in the UK, it has been claimed.
A new privately-owned institution in the capital is set to charge £18,000 per year for the privilege of studying there.
It hopes to rival top British universities such as Oxford and Cambridge and will appeal to students from wealthier families.
Professor AC Grayling has been confirmed as the first master of the New College of the Humanities, which has been likened to the elite liberal arts colleges in the US.
Push.co.uk editor Johnny Rich explained that a degree from such an institution would be out of reach for most people in the UK, thanks to its high tuition fees .
“You will have to have that money upfront and you’ll have to have three years of it and you’ll have to have the money to live on for three years in London,” he said.
Based in London’s Bloomsbury area with millions of pounds of private backing, the university will take on its first students in September 2012.