'No US university offers such a degree'

The chance to unravel the complexity of managing universities drew Kimberly Stepan to sign up for an MBA in London even though she works at a top US university.

For the past three years, Ms Stepan has worked in the student life office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she has coordinated work on "community building and substance abuse prevention". Ms Stepan, whose partner lives in London, plans to leave MIT at the end of this semester to move to the UK to continue her studies.

She said: "I come from an institute that strongly emphasises entrepreneurialism and academic freedom, so trying to understand and picture the processes involved with the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the Quality Assurance Agency was quite a challenge.

"There aren't any universities in the US that offer such a degree, and in today's world of ever-growing supercomplexity in institutions of higher education, understanding how universities are run from a business standpoint is becoming crucial. This programme will give me the skills and knowledge to make an impact at MIT, should I decide to return."