The University of Cambridge is considering issuing up to £300 million in bonds as it seeks to emulate America’s hyper-wealthy Ivy League institutions.

While Cambridge has always been considered well off by UK-higher education standards, its resources are dwarfed by places like Harvard and Yale, which have endowments running into the billions. Now, with major projects to fund, the English university is preparing to dip a toe in the bond market.

“We usually raise money through benefactors, but this time we need a significant sum so are turning to other methods,” Andrew Reid, the university’s director of finance, told the Wall Street Journal yesterday. “We are considering both issuing bonds and borrowing from banks, and should make a final decision by mid-2010.”

While American universities regularly use bond issues to raise money, they have never taken off in the UK, where institutions rely heavily on government funding.

The Times points out that Lancaster University dabbled with bonds in 1995 and says the university claims it was a huge success. However, the Financial Times says Lancaster’s deal “proved to be poor value, which put off other institutions”.

Image: King’s College Gatehouse in Cambridge c. 1880 / A. D. White Architectural Photographs, Cornell University Library