College entrance statistics misleading

Re “Still the head of the class?” Opinion, Aug. 22

Niall Ferguson’s article was thoughtful and on the money in many ways. However, his use of statistics comparing college entrance in the United States with Britain and Europe (45% in Britain go to a university versus 65% in the U.S.) is misleading. To be accurate, he would need to compare similar terms of educational level, and would find that a more accurate comparison would be between the 45% going to a university in Britain and the percentage of students moving on to graduate degrees in the U.S.

Most U.S. professional licensing boards deem the A levels attained by a student finishing high school in Britain to be the equivalent of the first couple of years at college. That figure would be more accurate and probably highly illuminating.

JON PHILLIPS

Torrance