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Professors Take On Oxbridge With New Uni

Professors Take On Oxbridge With New Uni

A group of leading academics have launched a new private British university, which they hope will rival Oxford and Cambridge.

New College of the Humanities (NCH) will be based in London and will charge students tuition fees of £18,000 a year.

Its creators say it will offer the "highest-quality" education to "gifted" undergraduates.

The privately-funded independent institution will start taking applications next month for its opening in September 2012.

It is offering assisted places to more than 20% of the first year's intake.

Professor AC Grayling, the philosopher who will be the college's first master, secured millions of pounds of funding from investors to set up the university.

He said it will initially offer eight undergraduate humanities degrees taught by some of the globe's most prominent intellectuals, college officials said.

"Our priorities at the college will be excellent teaching quality, excellent ratios of teachers to students, and a strongly supportive and responsive learning environment," he said.

"Our students will be challenged to develop as skilled, informed and reflective thinkers, and will receive an education to match that aspiration."

He said the college will prepare undergraduates for degrees in law, economics and humanities subjects including history, philosophy and English literature.

"Our ambition is to prepare gifted young people for high-level careers and rich and satisfying lives," he added.

The 14 professors behind the project - all who are expected to teach at the college - include evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, eminent historian Sir David Cannadine and economics professor and writer Niall Ferguson.