Martin Betts’ Post

Should we reduce the number of universities? And shut down crappy courses? This is not a News paper headline, they are still ringing their hands about the fact that 40% of UK Universities are effectively financially bankrupt. It is a topic headline in the Studentroom. https://lnkd.in/eVjWcDqB What surprises me is the issues of quality, value, unsustainable student debt and market forces forcing Universities to reduce in size are being discussed. No assumption that all institutions should be bailed out by the Government. Why are newspapers not 'grasping this nettle' in their articles? #UniversitiesUK #highereducation #HEcrisis

Ontario’s universities have been doing more with less for years, a situation exacerbated by repeated tuition freezes and rising inflation. The reliance on international students to backfill chronic provincial underfunding was never a sustainable solution. Now, with these recent policy changes, the cracks in the system are becoming gaping holes. Canada’s strength lies in its ability to attract global talent. If international students are deterred, we’re not just losing tuition dollars - we’re losing future innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders who enrich our communities and fuel our economy. When talent stops coming, it won’t just be universities that feel the pinch - it will be every sector of Canadian society, from healthcare to technology, that suffers. Thank you, Polly Nash, for the opportunity to contribute to this piece.

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

There are two stages to going bankrupt, according to a character in the 1926 Ernest Hemingway novel The Sun Also Rises: first gradual, and then sudden. Many UK universities are approaching step two, as Nature reports in a Careers feature. High inflation and frozen student fees have created a perfect financial storm. To add to that, in January, the UK government banned most international students from bringing their dependants into the country. This is further fueling existing perceptions that the nation is becoming less welcoming, resulting in a marked fall in the students who contribute to balancing the books. All of this helps to explain why there is a crisis: the state does not directly pay universities in England, Northern Ireland and Wales to teach students, as happens elsewhere. Instead, universities rely heavily on tuition fees for income, with students essentially their paying customers, as if universities were for-profit businesses. Any government typically would let businesses fail if they don’t make a profit. The 11-week-old Labour government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer doesn’t seem inclined to see universities differently to businesses. It should. UK university departments on the brink as higher-education funding crisis deepens To be clear, not all UK universities are suffering equally. Older, world-renowned ones, such as the 24 members of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities, are comparatively less at risk, because they have enough longevity and reputation to both secure credit and attract students from abroad, who pay higher fees than home students.

Britain is slow-cooking the goose that lays the golden eggs: UK University financial crisis and “the invisible hand of the market” at work. As soon universities were allowed to operate as businesses it became inevitable that, facing financial difficulties 1) entrance standards would fall; 2) final degree results would become inflated; 3) universities would be forced to merge/ consolidate/ go out of business. Universities have greedily expanded becoming over-reliant on overseas fee income. Successive governments have not invested in HE. How do we save our universities from terminal decline? UCAS Russell Group of Universities Department for Education Top universities to take students with lower grades in cash crisis

£12,500 University Tuition Fee? You guys gotta be kidding, right? The student numbers are already facing challenges domestically as well as from international students. Vice Chancellors are running a multi-million pound business. Every business faces such challenges balancing the golden triangle of Risks, Revenue, Costs. The Government must not step in and subsidise costs in what is a privatised business model. VCs must manage. They must step up to the mark. They must apply commercial models and mindsets such as trimming the belly fat, trimming admin staff of little value, merge and consolidate courses as well as merge their businesses with other Universities. They MUST trim costs. Cancel infrastructure projects, get rid if courses and staff that fail to attract break-even numbers of students. If they don't have the skills of running a commercial P&L business or staff responsible for the same, they must bring in that expertise. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.......

A very short but incisive article written on the Tories plans for UK Universities and their educational system potential reforms. The cost of private education has literally gone through the roof in the past 10 years, especially in the UK and US. To the extent where Parents/students really need to evaluate their options more clearly, and need to be assisted with more transparency as to the future prospects that their future diploma will potentially offer them. Of course , it should not only be about the potential financial return of a degree (since education also has a deep impact and societal value), but as society needs evolve, it is important for students to understand what they're getting involved in, how much of a time and financial commitment will be required from them, and what their real options are depending on the areas of study they're interested in pursuing. NB: along the same lines, I will post in the comments section below a link to a recent study published by Bloomberg, looking at the ROI of the many American universities. This article was also very interesting and I invite you to read it as well. #education #universities

This commentary in Nature is right “allowing universities to increase student fees, in exchange for them agreeing to limit #internationalstudents, is the worst of all worlds: it would confirm that the UK is less welcoming to people from other countries, & subsequent generations of home students would be punished with ever-increasing fees.” “There are two stages to going bankrupt, according to a character in the 1926 Ernest Hemingway novel The Sun Also Rises: first gradual, & then sudden. Many UK #universities are approaching step two, as Nature reports in a #Careers feature. High inflation & frozen #student fees have created a perfect financial storm. To add to that, in January, the UK government banned most #internationalstudents from bringing their dependants into the country. This is further fuelling existing perceptions that the nation is becoming less welcoming, resulting in a marked fall in the students who contribute to balancing the books. All of this helps to explain why there is a crisis, any government typically would let businesses fail if they don’t make a profit. The 11-week-old Labour government of PM Keir Starmer doesn’t seem inclined to see universities differently to businesses. It should. To be clear, not all UK universities are suffering equally. The Russell Group of Universities are comparatively less at risk, because they have enough longevity & reputation to both secure credit & attract students from abroad, who pay higher fees than home students. A ‘squeezed middle’ of newer institutions are less fortunate. They are more reliant on home students, whose tuition fees are currently capped. Many of these institutions have also borrowed heavily to fund buildings to make them more attractive to students & to keep up with their more famous competitors (A. R. Bell et al. Int. Rev. Econ. Finance 82, 771–783; 2022)… Bankruptcy would be a disaster. The universities most at risk are among the largest employers in their towns and cities, and more likely to #educate students who will be the first in their families to receive higher education, compared with #RussellGroup universities. So far, the government’s message seems to be that universities are on their own. Higher-education leaders must behave like business owners — and face the consequences of the market if they fail. The UK government faces a mountain of problems: prisons are overflowing, the NHS is in serious trouble and the economy is barely growing. Some say that UK citizens don’t expect public money to be used to save a struggling supermarket or clothing label, so why should a government bail out a struggling university?” Asia Careers Group SDN BHD - Investing in International Futures AGCAS British Council BUILA Department for Business and Trade Department for Education Higher Education Policy Institute Jisc Office for Students UCAS UKCISA Universities Scotland Universities UK Universities UK International Universities Wales

An interesting conundrum currently facing UK universities. Is the solution to increase fees for domestic students to balance budgets or is it to further relax requirements for international students to generate more revenue? Given that there is a risk to academic standards and therefore the long term appeal of many UK universities if they continue to erode entry requirements we would argue that domestic student fees need to be adjusted in line with inflation over the last 10 years. https://lnkd.in/eW6a7_Zy

Universities UK releases its blueprint for UK HE. Highlights include: * Calls for a new partnership with Whitehall to stabilise university finances and boost their economic contributions * A new global strategy should enhance universities’ reach while reducing financial dependence on international student fees  * The government should commit to two or three year funding allocations for Turing and consider joining Erasmus * Tuition fees must be index-linked to inflation, says the report  Read more >> https://lnkd.in/e8eD6s-v