The Financial History of Cambridge University

Adopting a long view that stretches back to the mid-nineteenth century, Robert Neild investigates why in recent years the University of Cambridge has been cutting expenditure, appealing for money and losing its academic independence. Using the university’s financial records and other statistics, Neild reveals the nature and scale of the changes experienced by the university since 1850 – particularly those affecting the extent of its scientific research, the sources and size of the its income, the social origin of its students, and its relationship with the British government.

Having suffered hard times both before and after the First World War, Cambridge prospered during the post-war years up until the 1970s. During that period government grants burgeoned, and both parties backed rapid university expansion. By the end of the 1970s this golden age had faded – largely as a result of inflation, economic crises and the revival of market economics. Both political parties have since cut grants, pushed universities to behave more like businesses, and taken steps to reintroduce fees. The university itself has achieved great success in acquiring non-government research grants and contracts – particularly in the biomedical sciences. Yet it has not escaped a financial squeeze, caused by repeated cuts in government funding and has suffered increases in governmental intervention. Thus, Neild shows, Cambridge’s academic independence and its finances are under threat.