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The 'London School of Economics and Political Science' ('LSE') is a specialist constituent college of the University of London. Located on Houghton Street in Westminster, off the Aldwych and next to the Royal Courts of Justice and Temple Bar, in the City of London, it describes itself as 'the world‘s leading social science institution for teaching and research'.[2]
History
LSE was founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidney and Beatrice Webb, Graham Wallas, and George Bernard Shaw, with funding provided by private philanthropy, including a bequest of £20,000 from Henry Hunt Hutchinson to the Fabian Society. The Fabians believed in advancing socialist causes by reformist rather than revolutionary means. The LSE was established to further the Fabian aim of bettering society, focusing on research on issues of poverty, inequality and related issues. This led the Fabians, and the LSE, to be one of the main influences on the UK Labour Party. [2]
While LSE's initial reputation was that of a socialist-leaning institution, this had changed by the 1960s, with LSE Director Walter Adams fighting hard to remove LSE from its Fabian roots. This led to many student protests, which also involved Lionel Robbins, who had returned to LSE as chairman of governors, having been a member of staff for many years.
The school was founded with the initial intention of renewing the training of Britain's political and business elite, which seemed to be faltering due to inadequate teaching and research - the number of postgraduate students was dwarfed by those in other countries. A year before the founding, the British Association for the Advancement of Science pushed for the need to advance the systematic study of social sciences as well. In fact, Sidney and Beatrice Webb used the curriculum of the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (best known as ''Sciences Po''), which covered the full-range of the social sciences, as part of their inspiration for molding the LSE's educational purpose. LSE was opened in October 1895 at No. 9 John Street, Adelphi.
The school expanded rapidly and was moved along with the British Library of Political and Economic Science to No. 10 Adelphi Terrace after a year. The LSE was recognised as a Faculty of Economics within the University of London in 1900. The school began enrolling students for bachelor degrees and doctorates in 1900, as it began to expand into other areas of social sciences, including international relations, history, philosophy and sociology. The school moved to its current site near the Aldwych - not far from Whitehall - in 1902. The Old Building, which remains a significant office and classroom building, was opened on Houghton Street in 1922.
During these years and under the directorship of William Beveridge, future father of the welfare state and the National Health Service, LSE redefined the study of economics and the new conception of the study of economics as "a science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses" is looked to as the norm. LSE in this sense must be looked at as the father of modern economics studies. Under Beveridge, Friedrich Hayek was appointed as a professor and he brought about the ascendancy of the LSE through his famous debates with John Maynard Keynes. The famed Keynes-Hayek debates which occurred between Cambridge and the LSE still shapes the two major schools of economic thought today as nations still debate the merits of the welfare state versus an economy solely controlled by the market. LSE's influence upon modern economics is undeniable since it both formed the very basis for economic thought as well as shaped modern perception of free market economics. Hayek's works continue to influence the study of economics across the globe. At the other extreme, during these years Harold Joseph Laski, a professor of political science at the LSE was influential in British politics as an advocate of far left policies. Many renowned world leaders including John F. Kennedy studied under his guidance at the LSE.
Anthony Giddens, the former director of the LSE stands as the creator of the 'Third Way' followed by both Tony Blair (who unveiled the Fabian Window at LSE in 2005) and Bill Clinton. His policy created a balance between the traditional welfare state and the belief in total free market economics. This policy is being put into effect by governments all across the world as free market economies continue to deal with wealth inequalities and bettering the welfare of the general population.
Current activity
The current director of the school, Sir Howard Davies, was formerly head of the Financial Services Authority and will serve until 2013.
An article by ''The Guardian'' describes the LSE's influence when it states that "Once again the political clout of the school, which seems to be closely wired into parliament, Whitehall and the Bank of England, is being felt by ministers." [3]. "The strength of the LSE is that it is close to the political process: the present director Sir Howard Davies moved there from running the Financial Services Authority and the current governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, was a former LSE professor. The chairman of the House of Commons education committee, Barry Sheerman, sits on its board of governors, along with Labour peer Lord (Frank) Judd. Also on the board are Tory MPs Virginia Bottomley and Richard Shepherd, as well as Lord Saatchi and Lady Howe." The top 10 employers of LSE graduates are principally accounting, investment banking, and law firms [4].
Over the years the LSE has continued to expand around Houghton Street. Under a recent fund-raising scheme, called the "Campaign for the LSE", which is seeking to raise £100 million, the LSE has purchased the former Public Trustee building at 24 Kingsway. This will be redeveloped into a ultra-modern educational building, to be known as the "New Academic Building" at a total cost of over £30 million, and will increase the campus space by 120,000 square feet. To date, just over £80 million have been raised under the scheme including funds for various new scholarships.
Programmes and admission
LSE is dedicated exclusively to the study of social sciences, offering over 120 MSc programmes, 30 BSc programmes and 4 BA programmes[3]. Courses are taught in over thirty research centres and twenty-one departments, including Accounting and Finance, Management, Anthropology, Economic History, Economics, The Development Studies Institute, the European Institute, the Gender Institute, Geography and Environment, Government (Political Science), Industrial Relations, Information Systems, International History, International Relations, Law, Mathematics, Mannheim Centre for Criminology & Criminal Justice, Media and Communications, Operational Research, Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, Social Policy, Social Psychology, Sociology, and Statistics.Since these programmes are all within the social sciences they closely resemble one other and students often take courses in other departments. Many engage in a practice known as "auditing," where students attend lectures by professors whose classes they are not formally enrolled in. The intake sizes of many of the masters programmes are unusually large for this level, and some cohorts contain well in excess of 100 students.
There is fierce competition for entry to LSE, with around 16 applicants for every available place at the undergraduate level, making it the most competitive university in the UK for undergraduate admissions [5], although differing application procedures between institutions make the significance of this statistic difficult to assess. Entrance standards are also high for postgraduate students (particularly for those seeking external funding), who are usually expected to have (for taught Master's courses) a First Class or Upper Second Class UK honours degree, or its overseas equivalent [6].
The process of postgraduate admissions to the LSE is conducted on a rolling basis, as opposed to a deadline system. Applications are accepted from mid-October and the evaluation process begins in mid-November. Applications are considered as they "roll in" and the candidate can receive one of three outcomes; acceptance, rejection, or placement on a waiting-list/interim decision. The admissions process continues without any set deadline until all available places have been allocated. This process does give a higher probability of acceptance for early applications over late ones. The consideration process ends once the places have been allocated, meaning that all applications in queue for consideration are returned with the notification that since the programme is full, neither an acceptance nor rejection can be given. The applications success rate for programmes vary by their size, although most of the major courses have an intake of approximately 5%-10% of applicants[7]. As part of the admissions process, LSE admissions officers often meet with prospective candidates at university fairs. Plans are afoot to increase the number of places offered, by expansion allowed by the purchase of additional faculty buildings [8]
LSE also offers the TRIUM Global Executive MBA programme jointly with Stern School of Business of NYU and HEC School of Management, Paris. It is divided into six modules held in five international business locations over a 16-month period. Whitefield Consulting Worldwide, a global MBA consultancy, has ranked the TRIUM Executive MBA programme as second worldwide. The Financial Times' most recent rankings of executive MBA programmes placed TRIUM as fourth worldwide. [9]
The LSE Summer School was established in 1989 and has expanded extensively with more than 3,000 participants in 2006, a similar number to the university's full-time undergraduate programme. The Summer School offers over 50 subjects based on regular undergraduate courses at the LSE, and takes place over two sessions of three weeks each, in July and August each year. LSE also offers the LSE-PKU Summer School in collaboration with Peking University. Courses from both Summer Schools can be used as credit against other qualifications, and some courses can be taken as part of a conditional offer for LSE Masters programmes.
Student body
There are nearly 7,800 full-time students and around 800 part-time students at the university Of these, 34% come from the United Kingdom, 18% from other European Union countries, and 48% from more than 130 other countries making it the most international academic institution in the world.[10]
51% of the student body are postgraduates[11], an unusually high proportion for most universities. Postgraduates are divided between Taught-Masters (MSc) and Research students (MPhil, PhD). Around 49% of all students are women.[12]
London School of Economics coat of arms, displaying the Beaver mascot
The students' union lists over 160 societies catering to a very diverse range of interests.[4] The SU considered to be politically active - a reputation it has held since the LSE student riots in 1968-69.[5] There has been recent student protest about the appointment of Peter Sutherland at LSE.
LSE students are also unusually heavy users of their campus library with borrowing rates four times than national average. [13]
Campus life
The LSE moved to its present day campus in 1902 at Clare Market and Houghton Street. In 1920, King George V laid the foundation stone of the Old Building, the principal building of the LSE. The LSE has gradually increased its ownership of adjacent buildings creating an almost continuous campus. The campus is just under 30 buildings, connections between which have been established on an ad-hoc basis with often confusing results. The floor levels of buildings do not always equate, leading to an individual being on a different "floor" after passing through a hallway. The campus also has a series of extension bridges created high on the upper floors to connect the upper of several buildings.
The LSE, St Clement's Building
The LSE is also a public lecture venue organised by the LSE Events office. These weekly lectures are regularly given by prominent speakers, including ambassadors, authors, CEOs, and heads of state. All events are open to the public, although very popular lectures are often ticketed (for free) with priority tickets going to students. Past speakers have included Bill Clinton, Vicente Fox, Jack Welch, Kofi Annan, Nelson Mandela, and Gerhard Schroeder.
The student newspaper is ''The Beaver'', which dates back to 1949. Other media outlets are The Script, PuLSEfm, a student radio station and LooSE TV, a student-operated TV network.
Accommodation
'High Holborn Hall of Residence' - (Built 1995) is 10 minutes from Campus
The LSE guarantees housing only to first-year undergraduate students, though postgraduates may also apply. None of the residences are at the Houghton Street campus - the closest is at Grosvenor House, within a 5 minute walk, while the farthest residences are 45 minutes away by tube or bus.
LSE accommodation is offered on a random basis within quotas set out for each hall. In each residence, there will be a mixture of students; home and overseas, men and women, undergraduate and postgraduate. New undergraduate students (including the General Course students) will occupy about 36% of all spaces. Postgraduates take approximately 56% of spaces in LSE halls and continuing students about 8%.
'Grosvenor House Studios' - (Opened 2005)
One of the closest residences to the LSE campus (not more than 5 minutes walk), located on the eastern side of Drury Lane at the crossroads of Great Queen Street and Long Acre, is Grosvenor House, which opened in 2005. Grosvenor House is one of the latest additions to the LSE residences, offering single, twin/double studios as well as one bed flats. Two minutes from Covent Garden, Grosvenor House Studios is close to London's Theatreland. Oxford Street, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square are only a short walk away.
The School opened a new 360-bed student residence adjacent to Trafalgar Square. Planning permission was approved by Westminster City Council on 2 June 2005 and a fully refurbished Northumberland House was opened in October 2006.
Newest Accommodation Development - 'Northumberland House', Trafalgar Square opened October 2006
Located in the heart of London between the Strand and Thames Embankment, Northumberland House is a Grade II listed building, (formerly a Victorian grand hotel and lately government offices). Northumberland House is a close to the main strip of the West End theatres and five minutes from Picadilly Circus, Leicster Square, Covent Garden and Oxford Circus.
There are also eight intercollegiate halls which accommodate students from the LSE as well as the other colleges of the University of London. These halls provide the opportunity to live with a greater diversity of students across other University of London colleges. Approximately 20% of the School's first year undergraduates are accommodated in the intercollegiate halls.[15]
The British Library of Economics and Political Science
The BLPES Library atrium at night
The Library of the London School of Economics and Political Science (also known as the British Library of Political and Economic Science) is one of the world's largest[16] social sciences libraries. It is the national social science library in the UK and responds to around 5000 visits from students and staff each day. In addition, it provides a specialist national and international research collection, serving over 12,000 registered external users.
The Library collects material on a worldwide basis, in all major European languages. The extensive collections range from a European Documentation Centre to 90,000 historical pamphlets, with over 95% of Library stock available on open access. 50 km of shelving, enough to stretch the length of the Channel Tunnel, house over four million items including 31,000 past and present journal titles. The Library subscribes to approximately 15,000 e-journals, just part of its electronic information provision.
Unusually for an academic library, all materials are housed in a single site, the Lionel Robbins Building, named after the prestigious economist who studied, taught and later served as Chair of the Court of Governors of LSE.
Library Roof
The Lionel Robbins Building covers 20,000 square metres. The fourth and fifth floors are home to LSE Research Lab - bringing together the School’s leading research centres.
The building was commended in the 2002 Civic Trust Awards - given to outstanding examples of architecture and environmental design in major city areas of the UK, taking into account the benefit each project brings to its local area as well as the quality of its design.
Despite this the design has various problems. Many students claim that the main circular stairwell is inefficient and cumbersome to use; that the overall design that does not make full use of all the available space and that the open plan environment is prone to noise. Nevertheless, the library remains the most popular place to study on campus.
The Library is also home to a number of national and regional initiatives, including the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences which has been indexing social science literature since the 1950s. [17]
General rankings
LSE is the largest recipient of funding for social science research in the UK. League tables published by British newspapers consistently rank it inside the top four academic institutions in the United Kingdom.[18] In the most recent national research assessment (RAE 2001), LSE came second after Cambridge for the quality of its research - and first if only the social sciences are taken into account.[19]
In the 2006 ''THES - QS World University Rankings''[6], LSE was ranked "3rd in the world" after Oxford and Harvard for the social sciences (2nd in 2005 and 2004), "19th in the world" for arts and humanities (9th in 2005, 10th in 2004), and "17th in the world" (11th in 2005 and 2004) overall. [21] Both 'The Guardian's'' 2006 University Guide and The Sunday Times University Guide 2006 ranked LSE the 3rd best university in the UK.[22]
[23] The MSc Management program ranked 8th in the 2006 ''FT European Masters'' Ranking (4th in 2005).[24]
In the ''2007 Good University Guide'', LSE was ranked fourth overall. The subject league tables were as follows: 1st in the UK for Accounting and Finance, Economics, Geography and Social Policy, 2nd for Anthropology, Business Studies, Politics, 4th for History and Philosophy, 5th for Law, 7th for Sociology and 8th for Mathematics.
LSE is ranked fourth overall in the ''2008 Times Good University Guide''. The subject league tables are as follows: 1st in the UK for Economics, Accounting and Finance and Politics; 2nd for Business Studies, Geography, Social Policy and Sociology; 3rd for both Philosophy and Anthropology; 4th for Law; 5th for History; and 7th for Maths.[25] It is ranked 6th in the Guardian's 2008 University Guide. [26]
Furthermore, the LSE's Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method is highly renowned, which is mirrored in the rankings of Blackwell's ''Philosophical Gourmet Report''. It is ranked 1st in the world for philosophy of social science and joint 2nd in the world for philosophy of science, as well as joint 3rd for 'Decision, Rational Choice, and Game Theory'.
| Ranking | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Times Good University Guide | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | |||
| The Guardian University Guide | 6 | 3 | 5 |
Economic contribution and history
LSE vs. Cambridge
The 1930s economic debate between LSE and Cambridge is well-known in academic circles. Rivalry between academic opinion at LSE and Cambridge goes back to the School's roots when LSE's Edwin Cannan (1861-1935), Professor of Economics, and Cambridge's Professor of Political Economy, Alfred Marshall (1842-1924), the leading economist of the day, argued about the bedrock matter of economics and whether the subject should be considered as an organic whole. (Marshall disapproved of LSE's separate listing of pure theory and its insistence on economic history.)
The dispute also concerned the question of the economist's role, and whether this should be as a detached expert or a practical adviser. For LSE and the historical economists, economic theory's application was of greater significance than economic theory itself. The consequence of LSE's approach to economics was greater innovation through receptivity to new ideas, and a style of economics with a strong applied and practical orientation. LSE and Cambridge economists worked jointly in the 1920s - for example, the London and Cambridge Economic Service - but the 1930s returned to dispute as LSE and Cambridge argued over the solution to the economic depression.
LSE's Robbins and von Hayek, and Cambridge's Keynes were chief figures in the intellectual disagreement between the institutions. The controversy widened from deflation versus demand management as a solution to the economic problems of the day, to broader conceptions of economics and macroeconomics. Robbins and von Hayek's views were based on the Austrian School of Economics with its emphasis on free trade and anti-interventionism, an approach Robbins (but not Hayek) later acknowledged as inappropriate to the timing and circumstances of the 1930s economic depression.
Within the context of increased protectionism and "beggar thy neighbour" devaluation policies being implemented by all major economies, recovery was only possible with the early implementation of more Keynesian-like policies. The situation is widely accepted to be a prisoner's dilemma (see Game Theory) in which a global policy of free trade and cooperation would have resulted in an optimum recovery path; the point argued by Robbins and von Hayek, though this path is rarely achieved in practice.
Cambridge was acknowledged to be right within the context of the times, but from a longer term perspective the LSE philosophy has achieved a measure of dominance in modern economic thought, with the advent of game theory and developments in trade theory. Many of the liberal ideas of the Austrian School of Economics, fostered at the LSE, in tandem with the growing Chicago School of Economics, have influenced much of modern liberal economics.
The measure of the validity of von Hayek's argument is the growth of international free trade organisations and agreements such as those achieved in the GATT rounds (later to become the World Trade Organisation), which have as their goal the promotion of these policies in order to avoid the repetition of the globally sub-optimal reaction that took place in the 1930s, as advocated by Cambridge at the time. [27]
Impact on economics
Some of the most specific and important contributions to our understanding of economics made by the LSE can be found in the individuals and their work listed below, who lectured, researched or studied at the LSE. While most of these economists were eventual recipients of the Nobel Prize in Economics for particular theories or works, listed below are the works which had the most impact on modern economic modeling and thought:
John Hicks, whose most famous contribution was the development of the Hicks-Hansen IS-LM model, now a standard macroeconomic Keynesian starting point for all University economists.
Friedrich von Hayek, one of the most eminent advocates of economic liberalism, his literature came to define much of economic policy in the UK and US following the ostensible influence of Hayek's economic philosophy on Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. Implementation of his philosophy led to key economic developments, such as the reduction in unionisation, observed by Bean and Crafts as the primary cause of stagnation during the previous 25 years which for all other European nations had been a period of prosperity.[28] He also famously influenced the climate of free-market thinking behind the Iron-curtain that stimulated the collapse of communist Eastern Europe.[29]
James Meade won the prize for his groundbreaking work on trade theory.
William Arthur Lewis, developed the important Dual Model of the economy that would eventually prove the foundation of much of economic industrialisation theory, and formed the basis for Heywood's "revisionist" view on French industrialisation in comparison with Britain. Lewis also pioneered work into the importance of "terms of trade" in trade theory.
Merton Miller received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (jointly) in 1990 for pioneering work in the theory of financial economics.
Ronald Coase received the Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences in 1991 for his discovery and clarification of the significance of transaction costs and property rights for the institutional structure and functioning of the economy.
Amartya Sen made many contributions to development economics, including pioneering studies of gender inequality, and he always takes care to write "her" rather than "his" when referring to an abstract person. Sen chose to leave the LSE for Oxford; he was not permitted to teach his famous course on poverty within the Economics department.
Robert Mundell has mainly researched in the field of optimum currency area, and his work remains one of the pillars of analysis in the assessment of the effectiveness of a single currency. While political tests, such as those in place in the UK for the decision to join the Euro, bare little to no resemblance to the key OCA criteria contributed to by Mundell, economic theorists use the OCA criteria in literature as the most effective method of analysis for the success of a single currency.
The Mundell-Fleming model was also an effective extension of the IS-LM analysis to factor in the impact of international equilibrium, and is the basis of analysis over the relative merits of fixed or floating exchange rates.
George Akerlof is perhaps best known for his article, "The Market for Lemons: Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism", published in Quarterly Journal of Economics in 1970, in which he identified the severe problems that may afflict markets characterized by asymmetrical information.
Also of note is the LSE economist A.W. Phillips, who, while never receiving a Nobel Prize for his work, made his most well-known contribution in the Phillips curve, which he first described in 1958. The Phillips Curve has proved instrumental in the further understanding of government economic policy regarding employment and inflation.
Beyond the great academic contributions, the general work of the university and its graduates continues to have a large impact on the field of economics. The IDEAS Economic Research Assessment January 2006 placed the London School of Economics and Political Science as the 3rd best University Economics research department in the world, and the best outside the US.
Yale University's 1999 analysis on the impact of Econometrics research, analysing the work of the best 100 Economics Ph. D graduates, from institutions across the globe, placed the LSE as 1st in the world, and as the only institution with over 2000 pages of published research to its graduates' names. [30]
The UK Research Assessment Exercise has rated the LSE Economics department as 5
★ A (the top grade) in the last two audits (1996 and 2001).[31] Many other non-governmental rankings exist, generally placing LSE economic research labs and departments amongst the top 20 in the world, and mostly in the top position outside the US [32]. Where concentration areas within economics are considered, the LSE is ranked generally amongst the top 12 research institutions in the world.[33]
Notable alumni and faculty
:''See List of London School of Economics people''
LSE alumni and former staff include fourteen Nobel Prize winners in Economics, Peace and Literature, thirty-four heads of state or heads of government, including five current heads of state or government (Italy, Denmark, Kenya, Kiribati and Costa Rica), twenty-eight current British Members of Parliament, forty-two current peers of the House of Lords and a finalist in ITV talent show, Grease Is The Word.
George Soros (BSc '52) speaking to the LSE Alumni Society of Malaysia.
Famous alumni include the former American President John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK), international banker and statesman David Rockefeller (whose family, along with the Rockefeller Foundation, financially supported the institution in the postwar period), the current Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, two Canadian Prime Ministers (Kim Campbell and Pierre Elliot Trudeau), Cherie Blair (wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair), the Norwegian Crown-Prince, the first Governor of Australia's central bank Nugget Coombs, several billionaires including George Soros, and celebrities such as Monica Lewinsky, Robert Kilroy-Silk and The Rolling Stones' frontman Mick Jagger. WWE Wrestler and commercial billionaire Sean Morley (better known as Val Venis) was educated at LSE. Promenient British journalist and writer Rod Liddle attended LSE during the 70's.
The British Prime Minister Clement Attlee also taught at the LSE. The Philosophy Department was founded by Sir Karl Popper and has served as a place of study for well-known philosophers of science such as Paul Feyerabend and Imre Lakatos. Fictional former Prime Minister of Great Britain and former Minister for Administrative Affairs, 'James Hacker MP', studied economics at the LSE in the critically acclaimed 'Yes Minister' and 'Yes Prime Minister' television series, as did fictional US president Josiah Bartlett (from The West Wing) who acquired a Ph.D in Economics from LSE.
With the appointment of both Tim Besley and Andrew Sentance to the Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England, which is responsible for setting interest rates and managing inflation in the UK, a total of six former LSE graduates, researchers and professors now sit on the panel that governs UK monetary policy. The other LSE affiliated members comprise of Governor Mervyn King, Chief Economist Charles Bean, Deputy Governor Rachel Lomax and external member David Blanchflower.[34]
A new lobby
Recent press reports have identified the LSE as part of a new group of universities which has started to act as a self-conscious elite lobby and pressure group: known commonly as the 'G5'.[35][36] According to the ''Times Higher Education Supplement'' (THES), the five are the LSE, Imperial College London, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and University College London, and it describes them as the "super-elite" (as all five are already members of the elite Russell Group).[37]
The 'G5' have begun to meet regularly and formally to plan their own path through the upheavals that are currently transforming British higher education, and to lobby for their own particular interests in maintaining the standards at the sharp end of tertiary education in the UK.
It has been reported in the THES [38][39] that, "The group, which calls itself the G5, warns that without more money to support its high-quality teaching, its members will turn away British undergraduates and focus instead on overseas and postgraduate students, whose fees cover most of the full cost of their courses. The new group has been meeting in secret for a few months. Few vice-chancellors know of its existence as a fully fledged grouping. The G5's goal is to secure extra state cash above the £3,000 student top-up fees likely from 2006 to cover the full costs of home and European Union undergraduates on their courses. The G5 group will make a case for special treatment for its members."
Sir Richard Sykes, rector of Imperial, said: "Imperial does not have any cheap courses. We will press the government to recognise this or lift the [£3,000] cap [on fees]. If they say our courses are too high quality and too expensive, we will not reduce our quality. We will have to look at expanding the number of postgraduates and overseas undergraduates we take." [40]
These five colleges have been noted to share the following attributes which appear to have been the common binding factors: strong research outputs, high teaching ratings, many famous names in public life, a major impact on global affairs and policy, and big international standing in academia. They also have some of the most influential and active student unions, with the overall University of London Student Union standing out for notable activism against successive governments, ranging from the 1968 storming of Downing Street, to recent protests over the War on Iraq and student "top-up" fees.
The LSE is also member of a new group known as the Golden Triangle, made up of Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, LSE, Imperial and KCL. The last four are each notable colleges of the University of London, and are often regarded as universities[41] in their own right. All have made progress towards gaining the right to award their own degrees.
Degrees
The LSE awards a range of academic degrees spanning bachelor's and master's degrees as well as junior doctorates and higher doctorates. The postnominals awarded are the degree abbreviations used commonly among British universities.
In 2007, the LSE was granted the power to award its own degrees.[42]. In a statement from Director Sir Howard Davies, has announced that while the LSE, UCL and Kings have decided to remain within the University of London, students entering the LSE from 2008 onwards will receive degrees issued by the LSE rather than the University of London. This would apparently contradict the terms of membership of the University of London, and presumably some new basis of membership has been agreed, which allows the LSE to award students its own degrees. Additionally, the LSE will begin to use its own formal academic wear (gowns etc.) and award its own certificates.
Public Transport & Location
The LSE is well situated in Westminster, between Covent Garden, Aldwych and Temple Bar, bordering the City of London. It resides adjacent to the Royal Courts of Justice and Kingsway. The nearest London Underground stations to the campus are Temple, Covent Garden and Holborn, with Aldwych having closed in the 1980s. Buses to Aldwych will stop outside the college.
Notes
#"LSE: A History of the London School of Economics and Political Science, 1895-1995", ''Oxford University Press'', June 1, 1995.
#"Determined Challengers Keep Heat On The Elite", ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'', October 28, 2005
#"Outstanding library and archive collections receive national recognition", ''MLA News'', October 28, 2005
#"1969: LSE closes over student clashes", ''BBC News''
#"JEEA Published Ranking", "Source: Table 3 of Pantelis Kalaitzidakis, Theofanis P. Mamuneas, and Thanasis Stengos (2003)"
#"Top 200 universities: evolution over time", "ULB 6/17/02"
#"EconPh.D Net Dec 1, 2005", "EconPh. D Net"
#"Cowles, Yale", "Francisco Cribari-Neto, Mark J. Jensen and Álvaro A. Novo, "Research in Econometric Theory: Quantitative and Qualitative Productivity Rankings," Econometric Theory, 1999"
#"HERO 1996", "UK Research Assessment Exercise 1996"
#"HERO 2001", "UK Research Assessment Exercise 2001"
#"IDEAS Research Assessment UK top 20% of Departments & World top 5% of Departments", "IDEAS, University of Connecticut, Top 20% UK institutions"
References
1. Table 0a - All students by institution, mode of study, level of study, gender and domicile 2005/06
2. The Good University Guide Online - Profile for London School of Economics
3. LSE Undergraduate Prospectus
4. Societies A-Z List
5. BBC website: LSE Student Protests
6. [20] — A 2006 ranking from ''THES - QS'' of the world’s research universities.
External links
★ LSE website
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