Andrew Norton’s Post

The government is opening the door to more funding for UK Universities earlier than expected. This BBC article is clearly a push by Universities UK to support intervention in the UK Higher Education sector but it also feels like a government media briefing to prepare students and the sector that change is on the way. Only once there had been a university or two that went into administration or underwent an enforced merger did I think that we would see some kind of reforms from the Department for Education. That may still be right but perhaps they are trying to sew the seeds of change with the public before a university goes under, or perhaps they now know that there are more that just one or two unis teetering on the edge of the financial abyss. By pointing to the worst case scenario after a bankruptcy or merger, the government would be able to justify tuition fee hikes or gov funding but I suspect any measures will now involve a simple hike in domestic UK student tuition fees which could be taken at any time. Christopher Day, VC of Newcastle University explains "The harsh reality is that unless the student and/or the taxpayer pay some more, the sector will shrink or the quality will go down. There are no alternatives.” The education secretary has taken the crucial first step of refocusing the role of the Office for Students on key areas like monitoring financial sustainability, to ensure universities can secure their financial health in the longer term and this has again drawn attention to the dire state that some (not all) universities find themselves in. The initial messaging from the government was for UK universities to "get their house in order", to run lean, stop teaching spurious subjects or spending money on vanity projects, reduce pensions and demonstrate value. As universities start to get an idea of where they have ended up for the 24/25 academic year, the momentum has shifted towards more intervention and a rise in tuition fees may come as early as next year to avert a financial catastrophe at one or more universities. They may however still need that catastrophe to unfold in full at a uni or two, to give them a mandate to step in. In the PBSA sector, we've seen a positive year for domestic student numbers compared to a fall in internationals. International students (particularly Chinese this year) also have less money to spend on accommodation (up to 30% less YoY for China) and more PBSA operators have been forced to focus efforts on domestic students late on. This comes at a significant revenue chip for some properties. What will an increase in tuition fees mean for the PBSA sector? Will we see less students going to uni as the perceived value shrinks or will those cities with affordable accommodation win out? Student Housing Consultancy #intled #pbsa #university #studentaccommodation #studyabroad #highered #highereducation https://lnkd.in/ejW3r2XJ

ATARs are a fast and efficient means for universities to assess students without the need for a detailed process that we see in the US focused on SAT/GPA/Statement/Cohort. However, the desire to increase low-SES enrolments will change this domestically, broadening pathways. With international places capped, we can see higher prices and more competitive selection entering the process. The size and cost of admissions departments will be going up. https://lnkd.in/gVziiz-F

One under-appreciated aspect of the funding crisis for UK universities (see latest round up from Phil Baty here https://lnkd.in/e2xMkyvM ) is how it is opening up unprecedented differences in funding for UK students at different types of universities. We’ve combined Times Higher Education course fee information with UCAS data on recent entrant numbers and type to estimate this in the graph. What is going on? Higher tariff (i.e. high entry grades, like Russell Group of Universities) universities have the twin advantages of (1) high proportions of higher fee students and (2) being able to command a high tuition fee in that market markets. By growing the share of international students in their intake, and increasing their fees, this has mean that higher tariff universities have stopped the key measure of real-funding-per-student-on-course weakening too much. But medium and lower tariff universities don’t enjoy this advantage. So they have been more fully exposed to the erosion of the value to the fee cap. This means that UK students going to these universities will be getting meaningfully less funding per student (about 25%) than their peers – paying the same fee – going to selective universities. All universities are really struggling in different ways through this funding crisis, but this new differential funding dynamic makes it harder and harder for medium and lower tariff universities to offer what students want and so to attract the numbers they need.

Interesting perspective on how the average funding per student (across domestic and international) opens up a massive funding gap between higher tariff and lower tariff universities. From Mark Corver dataHE

In the face of recent headlines highlighting concerns for the future of UK Universities, UniQuest Ltd. stands ready to support institutions through these challenging times. Our Commercial Director Adam Rennison shares; "At UniQuest, we understand the difficulties that UK universities are facing given the drop in applications being reported across the sector. While this is understandably raising concerns across the sector, we believe that through strategic data driven decision making and robust support systems, institutions can navigate these difficulties successfully. UniQuest is committed to partnering with universities to enhance their operational effectiveness and ensure they continue to provide high-quality education. By leveraging our expertise to support enquiry management, admissions, and student retention teams, we can help institutions not only weather this storm but emerge stronger and more resilient." https://lnkd.in/eA8-XGEi

The escalating cost of University education. Can this 'investment' be a good one for many of the courses in a typical University Prospectus? I think not. Back in the 70s, around 5% of school pupils went on to tertiary education. The value of a University degree was high. It gave academic credentials and taught valuable life lessons, such as leaving the parental home, cultivating friends, managing a budget, running a household with cooking, washing clothes, and keeping the accommodation clean. Today, the percentage of school leavers going to University is much higher, and this detracts from the stand-out value among a herd of me-too graduate job applicants. Some of the grades these graduates boast are a joke - with 1st class or 2(i) grades in abundance. They defy the rules of a Gaussian Distribution Curve - with too many at one or more standard deviations to the right on the Normal Distribution Curve. I suspect this is because universities are generous with marking to make themselves appear good and attract "bums on seats". Universities are businesses. Vice Chancellors are CEOs. They must learn how to plan for, run, and manage a business. Strategic planning, operational planning, forecasting, targeting and segmentation, and defining the unique value proposition are all in scope. How many have those skills and experiences individually and collectively as a Board that often comprises and values 'academics' over proven commercial business experience running multi-million or multi-billion dollar businesses and a proven track record of numbers supported by a scorecard of metrics? Education is a product like any other. Products have a lifecycle. Senior executives must manage the product lifecycle from pre-launch to launch to maturity and decline. Very few senior executives can manage across the entire lifecycle. Many are good at a particular stage but not the whole cycle. It is time for the Vice Chancellors to get real, step up to the mark, and manage the challenges before them. And that doesn't mean raising fees, but trimming fat, getting rid of deadwood non-value-added departments (I can tell you which ones they are), being ruthless about prioritising core services and deliverables, and above all, as I faced in corporate life, being able to make tough choices and execute them with precision and accuracy. Any corporation always has excess fat, dead wood (job-for-life comfort roles), non-viable departments and courses, and a lack of focus. It's just that many VCs probably don't know it - YET! But it may come to bite them on their ass! Get real VCs and manage your business. And if you can't, step aside and let someone else in to manage it.

Succinct commentary from a well-informed insider on what the Australian Tertiary Education Commission wants to achieve and why. If you want to get an idea of the future of Aussie higher education and don’t want to read all 400+ pages of the Accord, read this. Its a beautifully written piece on why it’s ok for an “independent” commission for the sector to direct funding towards preferred political aims, over a longer term that will survive this government. Prof Dewar floats the idea of new kinds of Australian universities; universities that choose to teach rather than research; or are more specialized in their preferred disciplines. The ATEC will be directing funding, so the push from on top will dictate what universities can afford and cannot afford to do. Perhaps some institutions are already too big and need to be broken up. Perhaps there is a role for the private sector (but the Accord is a bit nebulous about what that might look like, if at all). Somehow there will be convergence of vocational and university education but it’s not clear how, and that’s up to the ATEC to sort out. Australia doesn’t have much tradition of students moving far from home to go to uni. The nearby, local comprehensive uni could teach business, accounting or engineering just as well as one far away across the country. This will change. Specialist institutions will potentially be more efficient users of funding for the government and maybe improve research. I like the idea of centres of excellence. But it also feels like the longer term may be more expensive for the student. It will also be a boon for PBSA providers, who will likely be offering accomodation for domestic students who may in the future need to travel far from home to study at a more specialized institution. Universities face a very different future

Interesting and saddening article, discussing the severe challenges many HE organisations are facing. With recent inflation, fixed student fees and a government clampdown on international students creating a toxic mix resulting in the sector being under very significant financial strain. Lets hope the political parties can get together to find a funding solution to this asap. The UK HE sector is something we should all be proud of, and shouldn't be allowed to fail. https://lnkd.in/e_JuEvb5

A radical report calls on #highereducation in the United Kingdom to ditch the ‘world-class university’ model in favour of group or federal approaches and urges greater collaboration rather than competition between providers. The paper, published by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) under the provocative title of “Down with the World-class #University: How our business models damage universal higher #education”, says that British universities have much to learn from countries such as the United States, France, Germany and China, which encourage a more diverse system of higher education – but still produce centres of excellence

A controversial piece to follow a rare and minimal increase in UK per student funding It raises probing questions of student value proposition. Student’s voice and their perspective over that of universities and their leaders is gaining ever greater prominence in public perception. As it should And evidence of universities globally being increasingly on the nose and in need of being reimagined grows stronger even on a rare good news day. Time for radical change and to rewrite the model and narrative with the UK having its own Accord moment and opportunity in the coming year. Will the outcome be a better deal for students more than the providers as it has in Australia? And isn’t that a good thing?