Parallel Worlds: The California Master Plan and the Development of British Higher Education

Abstract

The California Master Plan and the Report of the Robbins Committee, published within 3 years of one another in the early 1960s sought to address very similar issues but different historical, political, financial and cultural contexts affected the process to be followed. The Master Plan represented a negotiated treaty between different institutional interests which was then endorsed by the state legislature; the Robbins report was the product of a major national committee many of whose recommendations were overturned by national politicians. Britain has in practice followed a broadly comparable route to the creation of a higher education system combining broad access with an elite sector but at a slower pace. The Master Plan created a rigorous framework which has been retained for half a century; the British approach has been evolutionary reflecting both pressures of demand and changes in the political and economic environment.KeywordsHigh EducationLocal AuthorityCommunity CollegeHigh Education SystemMaster PlanThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.