Apr 9th, 2025

US Universities Face ‘Outflow of Scholars,’ LSE President Warns

President and Vice-chancellor of London School of Economics and Political Science Larry Kramer discusses the impact of President Trump's policies on US universities as the "effective dismantling" of American higher education - an effort to "crush some of the best universities in the world". He adds that the US is becoming "an increasingly unattractive place for anybody to go to be a student or a faculty member" and that the LSE is "already receiving tons of calls" from US faculty. He says amid the UK's higher education funding crisis, Britain is in a key position to benefit from the outflow of US students and staff. Kramer advocates for all sources, including student fees, to be looked at for additional funding. On free speech, Kramer says the LSE's commitment to free speech is explicit and clear and if there were any US pressure on the LSE, the university would resist it. He spoke to Bloomberg's Caroline Hepker and Stephen Carroll.