The UK has been left awkwardly outshone by the United States of America, as the US snapped up twice as many international students as the UK this year. Though Cambridge took the top spot in the 2011 QS league tables, 13 of the top 20 universities were from the States. Considering the size and vast number of colleges/universities in the States this is not too shocking; what is worrying, however, is that international students are abandoning top British universities like Cambridge, for ‘lesser names’ across the pond.

Education in the US does have a lot to offer. Though we may consider the US liberal arts system of majors and minors to be lacking in focus and depth, the opportunity to enrich your degree with a broader range of subjects and ‘postpone’ choosing your specialism is very popular. It has also been suggested that US colleges and universities take more interest in your development as a person, and wish to nurture your abilities outside the classroom as well as in.

These factors seem a little too subjective to account for America’s domination – what is really giving the US its edge?

Asia. For students from China, Japan and South-East Asia the US is becoming the default choice. Jayden* and his friend (both from Singapore) declined places at the University of Cambridge to study Economics, and instead are studying at Northwestern University (ranked 24th in the QS league tables). It is surprisingly common to decline places at the likes of Durham and LSE to study at non-Ivy League schools Stateside.

One explanation is that after completing your degree in the US it is relatively easy to stay there to work, which is not the case in the UK; this is particularly important for ambitious Asian students. Furthermore, it is believed that the US has a better reputation than the UK. According to the Times Higher Education reputation rankings, American universities are just more well known than British ones with the top 20 names featuring twelve American Universities and only three from the UK.

For international students more generally, the incredible amount of scholarship available means that, despite US colleges having a reputation for emptying your pockets (three years at an American university would set you back around $100,000), the total costs for living and tuition in the UK and US are not so different.

Particularly for non-EU nationals, the States can actually be cheaper than the UK. In some cases, education in the US can be completely free – in addition to tuition and accommodation fees being covered, your flights to and from America are paid for and you receive money for extracurricular activities.

This is because American universities are rich, with over 50 colleges having 9-figure endowments. Harvard’s endowment alone represents $32 billion, whereas Cambridge (who has by far the largest endowment in the UK; only Oxford comes close) has only £4 billion [approximately $6 billion]. Even non-Ivys like Stanford and Northwestern have endowments of $16 billion and $6 billion respectively. Such financial backing means that the US can operate a ‘needs blind’ admission process, and offer fantastic opportunities to both post and undergraduates in terms of extra-curricular activities and research.

Flirting with the enemy is starting to look attractive to even us stiff Brits, which is reflected in the fact that many of us are making the perilous journey across the Atlantic. Around 9000 UK students were enrolled in the States this year - a significant increase on previous years. Following cuts in the public sector, there is a feeling that British universities are creaking at the limits and fueling concerns that this could provoke a brain drain to the well-funded American Universities.

Public expenditure on higher education in the US is growing, and is currently at around 3.1% of their GDP whereas, in the UK, our spending has dropped from 1.3% to 1.2% of GDP this year. Since the US has around 6.5 times the financial resources of the UK, it works out that the United States is spending 15 times as much on higher education than this country.

It is not surprising, therefore, that a “not Oxbridge, not worth it” attitude towards the UK is being adopted. The international quality of British education is being pulled into question by the government’s white paper – as if we needed another reason to shout at David Willets.

There is no doubt that our colonial cousins have more to offer than a KFC and a cheeky donut – a first-class education is also up for grabs. The choice between higher education in the UK and the US is becoming a worrying ‘no-brainer’ for students across the globe. We in the UK need to pull our socks up fast, if we want to maintain our reputation of academic excellence on the international scene.

*Name has been changed to respect the source's wish to remain anonymous

Jayden, Singapore	Northwestern over Cambridge	“I chose NU because of the liberal arts education.”
Nikita Tsukanov, UK	Yale over Oxford	“The fact that universities here are privatised means that, although they are more expensive, they pay professors so much more so I think they are better here than at unis in the UK.”
So, Japan	Macalester over Durham	“A liberal arts college such as Macalester gives me two years to decide what I really want to do. Plus there is no scholarship for Japanese students in the UK.”
Harvey, Hong Kong	Dartmouth over LSE	“[In the States there is] a real sense of potential that comes through a general willingness of the campus to support (both in funding and manpower) whatever initiatives come to mind."
Emma, UK	Earlham over Edinburgh	“I got full financial aid to come to Earlham. It rocks. Included in my scholarship here I am even able to be employed in an on-campus job for 10 hours a week, and all that money goes to cover my own personal expenses. Which are few, because housing, food, and events on campus are all covered.”
Mats, Norway	Northwestern over Warwick	“So-called ‘needs-blind admission’ provides a guarantee that students will be admitted without any evaluation of their financial situation and they are guaranteed to be given their full demonstrated need of aid. In the end, attending a US university may allow international students to graduate with significantly less financial debt and obligations than if they had chosen to study in the UK.”