The head of the universities watchdog in England has said the “golden age of higher education” could be over and all options should be on the table as the funding crisis facing the sector is “significant”.
The Office for Students (OFS) interim chair, Sir David Behan, said increased tuition fees and lifting visa restrictions on international students could help revive embattled institutions.
“I think the resilience of the sector overall has been tested by a number of different forces … the global pandemic, the impact of leaving the European Union,” he told the Sunday Times.
“We’ve had industrial action, the cost of living crisis, the increasing cost of pensions and decreasing number of international students, and then, finally, domestic undergraduate fees remaining frozen since 2012 … and what it’s meant is that the fiscal deficit for some organisations is significant.”
He called on universities to explore mergers or partnership arrangements with other institutions, amid fears some institutions could be facing bankruptcy. “It’s important that universities revise their medium-term financial strategies … They can’t just carry on,” he said.
The restrictions on foreign students needs to be lifted ASAP - they help subsidise the rest of higher education and cutting their numbers was just pandering to racists.
On the flip side a lot of places then just become diploma mills pushing international students through programs because they pay full price. You see this a lot in the US, where money is first and quality education second.
True. But foreign students have always been a huge amount of UK university funding. Basically from as far back as the 1800s.
Limiting them is not the solution. Nor is it the cause of diploma mills. Reduction in government funded research grants is what forced uni to move to tick box education. And government desire to avoid administration costs is what leads to Unis without the strong educational ethics taking advantage of it.
The value of higher education comes from things like higher taxes and lower crime.
Trying to run a university like a business is fucking stupid.
Universities could cost the government a shit load of money for all I care. But losing British education in the name of foreign money is the exact case of short term thinking that has made this country as crap as it is.
If you want to think of some 50 year plan. It should be about educating more British students to do roles that are required. Not about bringing in foreign students to make a short term buck.
I’m pretty sure that pandering to racists is what passes for a popular mandate there.
Increased tuition fees? I guess 50k in debt isn’t enough punishment for a decision 18 year olds are pressured to make.
Are European universities struggling as much? Because my (same age) co-workers say they only had a few thousand in debt for their entire courses, so there must be another way of doing things.
domestic undergraduate fees remaining frozen since 2012
Not untrue, but they like tripled or quadrupled fees a few years before then, so I’m pretty sure it still accounts for inflation.
Yep but those increases in UK student fees rarely resulted in increases to uni funding. As it was matched with government funding drops/ Ala austerity.
Right, so uni fees don’t need raising, they need funding given back.
Yep that was the point I was making.
I’d add fees need reducing or removing. Not entirely for the unis. More for the value to our nation. Fees leave in debt students who find it harder so avoid future academic progression.
This leaves the nation with only the children of more wealthy parents moving into advanced education. Removing a huge potential from lower classes.
This of course removes potential for invention and discovery within the UK.
I look at the fees charged nowadays, and I’m convinced that if I had just finished my A-levels, I’d just go and train as a paramedic.
You still get a degree, except as it’s also an apprenticeship you get paid.Ah, that‘s a shame.
