ABSTRACT
A definition of co-operation relevant to higher education (HE) is a good place to start. Ruskin was one beneficiary of a national credit framework. This developed from the 1980s, from a base in further education colleges such as Nelson College, and eventually became the Open College Network (OCN). Ruskin College illustrates the problems and possibilities well. In the early 1990s, the College, under pressure from the then new FE Funding Council (FEFC), replaced its two-year diplomas with one-year courses. Co-op UK's predecessor, the Co-op Union, had an elaborate Education Department which channelled co-operative societies' self-imposed education dividend through to the Co-operative College. In 1970s Brighton, mutualizing developments in HE were actively underway. The idea of a university and the idea of a co-operative and mutual are both in play in 2014 as they have not been before in the author lifetime.
