University Funding

With the recent publishing of the Browne Report, the talk has all been about University funding. At least the argument that higher education is not comprehensive education was won sometime ago. Those that benefit from a higher education should in some measure pay for it, it is not a pure "public good" that should be paid for by all. I am also pleased that the idea of a "graduate tax" has been dropped. How would you devise a tax that would capture all the graduates, but only the graduates who had benifited from a university education in this country?
It is unfashionable to look to the US as a model. A few days ago on Radio 4 I listened to two experts earnestly arguing with each other on the merits of different approaches, yet both agreed that the UK should not follow the US and end up with a "two tier" higher education system. By this they meant the elite universities accessible only to the rich and a sub-tier of lesser institutions available to the rest. Having lived in the US for many years and with a son at university there I think this is a gross misrepresentation of US higher education. It is in fact a very broad continuum of options; by style of education, type of institution and price - from the famous (and very expensive) Ivy Leagues, through the large state universities (subsidised for in-state students) to small, private "liberal arts" colleges, city colleges etc. And it is not true that the top universities are only accessible to the rich. I have attended admissions presentations at many colleges and universities and all stress "needs blind" admissions policies. They encourage prospective students to apply for financial aid. They can do this because they have built up endowments over the years to provide scholarships, funded by contributions from alumni.
This will be no quick fix. There is not the same tradition among British universities to tap their alumni for fundraising or even to keep in touch with them. Cambridge University has shown the way with the incredible success of its 800th Anniversary fund - raising over one billion pounds. Cambridge now receives donations from around 11% of its alumni, compared with under 1% for other UK universities. The figure in the US is nearer 14%.
This isn't the only answer, but it has to be part of the answer - with government policy favouring institutions which strive to provide financial aid to allow any academically qualified student to attend. And we, the generation who benifited from free higher education, must now do our part to support the universities and colleges that gave us our start in life.