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London School Of Economics |
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THE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS Uniqueness of LSE The 'London School of Economics and Political Science', well-known as the London School of Economics (LSE), is the specialist university in England, dedicated to the study of Social Sciences. It was the first university of England to give pride of the place to Social Sciences. London School of Economics has been consistently rated as one of the best schools not just in England but in the entire world. Its research programs are considered next only to Cambridge University. ‘Times Higher Education Supplement’ of UK conducts an annual survey on educational institutions and ranks the universities across the world. According the 2005 survey, LSE is the second in the world for Social Sciences, fourth from recruitments point of view, ninth for Arts and Humanities and eleventh in the overall. To date London School of Economics has to its credit around 13 Nobel Laureates who have been either its staff or alumni. Around 33 past and present heads of the state or government across the world studied at LSE. More than 30 members of each house of the British parliament have been either LSE alumni or faculty. History LSE has its roots in Fabian Society, a late nineteenth century intellectual movement which propounded semi-Marxist ideology and advocated gradual reforms, rather than revolution, to achieve democratic socialism. In 1894, Henry Hunt Hutchinson, an affluent solicitor from Derby, left a bequest of around £20,000 to the Fabian Society. Sidney J. Webb, a Fabian and one of the five trustees of the bequest, cherished the idea of starting an educational institution and suggested that the money should be utilized to develop a new university in London. With the support of three more Fabians, namely, Beatrice Potter Webb, who was also his wife, George Wallas and George Bernard Shaw Sidney Webb founded LSE in 1895. The British Library of Political and Economic Science was founded along with the university. LSE took Room No. 9, John Street, Adelphi at an annual rent of £360. First classes were conducted in October, 1895. The institution began to grow at a rapid pace and moved to 10, Adelphi Terrace in 1896. In July 1896, LSE had 281 students, out of whom 87 were women. In 1900, the prestigious University of London acknowledged LSE as a ‘Faculty of Economics’. In 1901, LSE became the first university in Britain to award university degrees in Social Sciences by conferring Bachelor of Science (Economics) and Doctor of Science (Economics) degrees. In 1901, John Passmore Edwards, a philanthropist donated £10,000 to LSE which enabled the move to its present site at Clare Market and Houghton Street. In 1905-06, out of the 181 post-graduates in England, 69 were from LSE. The university continued to prosper with the financial support of London County Council and within the first decade of its existence earned the reputation of being a world-class research centre for Social Sciences. Academic Philosophy and Purpose of LSE In the late nineteenth century, the British intellectuals grew apprehensive that politically and economically their country was at risk due to teaching and research deficiencies of the existing educational institutions. They feared that it would affect England’s business and industry and its international reputation. In August 1894, the British Association for the Advancement of Science advocated the need to promote systematic and scientific study of Economics in England. So the time was ripe to start an educational institution dedicated to intensive research in Social Sciences. The trustees of Hutchinson’s bequest, too, believed that comprehensive knowledge of Economics and Political Science was necessary for people to carry out the social reconstruction process in Britain. They thought that reconstruction was possible only if the public officials were taught these two essential subjects on modern lines. Therefore, they decided to utilize the funds to start LSE with a strong research base. LSE denounced the approach of Oxford and Cambridge universities as ‘Ivy League gentlemanly education’ and enunciated a research-oriented, more serious and technical approach. In order to have an in-depth understanding of every discipline, it adopted the motto rerum cognoscere causas, which means, 'to understand the causes of things'. The founders created new and hitherto unheard of departments to promote various sub-disciplines in the Social Sciences stream. Anthropology and Sociology departments were started for the first time in England. Economics was divided into two segments called, “Pure Economics” and “Economic History”. Professional associations were encouraged on the campus. Sidney Webb, the chief driving force behind LSE, said that the purpose of LSE was to teach Political Science and Economics on more contemporary and socialist lines. Its thrust was on scientific approach, original lectures, in-depth research and rigorous training for researchers in Social Sciences. However, LSE never intended to be a purely academic institution; its main purpose was to impart training to students for careers in government (administration) and business. Academic Structure Living up to its reputation as the world’s most prestigious centre of learning for Social Sciences, LSE offers an extensive choice of courses through over 30 research departments, 19 graduate departments and five inter-disciplinary institutes. The course options range from Economics, Political Science, International Relations, Sociology, Anthropology, Finance, Accounts and Statistics to Law and Business Management. Though LSE was originally started to enable the social restructuring process in England, its curriculum covers not just UK or Europe but the social, economic and political conditions of all the countries in the world. It has a global perspective and wants to be the world’s laboratory of Social Sciences. LSE has the world’s biggest library for Social Sciences. LSE is a research-oriented university. All the departments offer research programs which award MPhil and PhD degrees. It has a separate department by name Research and Project Development that gives guidance to students who wan to pursue research programs. The normal duration of full time post graduate courses is one-year long and that of part-time courses is two-years. Short duration courses are also offered for executives with considerable professional experience. Its ‘Summer School’ offers intensive courses of three-week duration. Its ‘Language Centre’ teaches 11 foreign languages. One can opt for a full-pledged degree or a certificate course in any of the languages. The school has a ‘Distance Education Department’ that confers Degrees and diplomas to off-campus students. LSE is in charge of University of London’s Distance Education Programs in Economics, Management, Finance and Social Sciences. LSE has academic alliances with various institutions such as Sciences-Po of Paris, Columbia University of New York and Peking University of Beijing etc. Full-time undergraduate course cost around £1,175 for home and EU students and £10,980 for overseas students; Part-time fees are around £310 per complete unit, £155 per part-unit for home and EU students and £2,750 per complete unit, £1,375 per part-unit for overseas students. MPhil and PhD cost around £3,162 for home and EU students and £11,196 for overseas students. Part-time MPhil/PhD fees cost around £1,542 for home and EU students and £5,382 for overseas students. The ‘National Quality Assessment Agency’, in charge of testing the curriculum and examination system of educational institutions in England, gave the ‘best’ rating (a maximum score of 24) to LSE’s management courses and ‘excellent’ rating (a score of 22 or above) to all the other courses. Student Life LSE
has over 62,000 registered alumni. Around 7,000 are regular students and
750 are part-time students. Around 62 per cent are foreign students. Women
comprise around 48 per cent of the total students. Since majority of the
students come from other countries, LSE campus looks more international
than English. LSE has a very active students union. It exists solely to
look after the interests, social life and welfare of LSE students. All
students automatically become the members. The union runs various bars,
advisory and commercial service and clubs.
The school does not guarantee housing to all the students. However, first-year undergraduate students are guaranteed accommodation if they apply before the deadline. Most post-graduate students tend to prefer rented rooms. The school has a separate department called ‘Accommodation Office’ to advice the students on accommodation-related matters. There’s also ‘Financial Support Office’ that guides the students about the cost of each course and possible financial aid. Student Services Centre provides guidance relating to general queries such as admission process, application position etc. Career prospects after coming out of LSE are very rich since the school is rated the fourth best by recruiters across the world. On the whole, studying at LSE would be a turning point in the life of a student, both personally and professionally.
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