State-financed universities have plenty to complain about. The subsidy trough is never full enough, and political meddling is a constant nuisance. But now there's a new and much more fundamental threat: private competition. The first news is that BPP, a for-profit provider of professional training, has passed an important mark in its attempt to become a university. The Privy Council, a feudal relic that regulates such things, has asked the Quality Assurance Agency, which polices standards in higher education, to start a full inspection of BPP.
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