UniQuest Ltd.’s Post

Transform or Fail: UK Universities Call for Urgent Funding Reform Amid a worsening financial outlook for UK universities, University of East Anglia's leaders stress the urgent need for Government action to ensure the sector’s sustainability. Rising costs, declining funding, and international student shortfalls threaten education quality, research, and regional access. UEA calls for transformative funding and policy reforms to safeguard higher education’s vital role. Read the Full News Here.  https://lnkd.in/e6XFvwqs #News #MAEG #ApplyUniversity #MyArmanEducationGroup #UEA #UniversityOfEastAnglia #EducationSector #InternationalStudents #EdTech #InternationalEducation  #UKEducation #University #HigherEducation

Let's see then.... "how can we change the narrative?" - Phil Baty, Times Higher Education "reset the narrative" - Vivienne Stern, Universities UK "take it broadly for granted" - Nick Jennings, Loughborough University Lisa Roberts, University of Exeter and Nishan Canagarajah, University of Leicester are also broadly on the "explain" and "mistaken perception" bandwagon here. Perhaps some words like listening, hearing, understanding, perhaps even accepting, would be in order. Even if they are mentioned in the online discussion that is not the tenor of the report back here. It's all about telling the public what to think. BTW - I don't post comments on Phil Baty's LinkedIn because he deletes them. It's the sort of censorship that the sector could do without. But Higher Education Policy Institute does it to me on their X account as well, which seems pretty poor for a supposedly independent think tank that wishes "to see a vibrant higher education debate". #ukuniversities #highereducation #censorship #universities #ukhighereducation #intled

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

“It is critical that the necessary investment is made to enable universities to pay for the staff required to maintain a quality higher education for their students and to deliver the necessary support services. Under-pinning the quality and resilience of higher education is mission-critical to Ireland’s competitiveness" - Jim Miley (Director General, Irish Universities Association) The Irish Universities Association Pre-Budget Submission sets out four key areas in which the Government is called on to address critical funding shortfalls in Irish universities. 2025 is the last chance for Government to advance its €307m commitment to closing the higher education funding gap. ℹ️ The full IUA Pre-Budget Submission can be found here: https://lnkd.in/evRkbwmp Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science | Simon Harris | Paschal Donohoe | Higher Education Authority | Jack Chambers

Universities UK published its key report, 'Opportunity, growth, and partnership: a blueprint for change from the UK’s universities' yesterday, setting out how the UK faces a "clear choice" between success or decline for the country's universities. In case you have missed it, you can access the web summary and the full report here: https://lnkd.in/emDccBef #Universities #FinancialSustainability #HigherEd

Great insights from the recent panel discussion moderated by Phil Baty on the #Challenges and #Opportunities facing the UK #HigherEducation sector. The conversation, sparked by #NickJennings' 'provocative' blog, emphasized the critical need for universities to articulate their value more effectively. With a new government offering supportive rhetoric, it's crucial to turn these words into actionable policies to address the funding crisis and enhance the #HigherEdu's role in societal growth. The discussion highlighted the importance of #InternationalStudents, the impact of non-STEM #Research, and the potential for #StrategicPartnerships. Now, more than ever, we all must work collectively to reshape the narrative globally and demonstrate the broad societal impact of our universities. #Universities #UniversityImpact #EducationPolicy

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.

What impact will the Australian Tertiary Education Commission recommended by the Australian Universities Accord have on universities when it is implemented, likely in 18 months? Higher education expert, John Dewar, has published an editorial opinion in The Australian that discusses the major changes this body will bring to higher education in Australia and six strategic decisions universities need to make as a result. Read the full opinion piece https://lnkd.in/gkaY25Y8 #ATEC #highereducation #strategicmanagement

Universities are in deep financial crisis, with mass cuts and potential institutional failures. How can we collectively change the narrative to earn the public and political support we need for the sector - not just to survive in the short term, but to thrive long term? The video recording of this vital and timely panel discussion about how universities can win the challenging arguments about their worth and value, in the face of relentless attacks, is now live. It is about the UK sector, but has resonance much more globally. You can view it here: https://lnkd.in/dRu-Ev5H Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK, said that we have got to "reset the narrative" around who benefits from higher education, to move "from the idea of universities as a private good to something which is essential national infrastructure which conveys great public benefit." A dramatic change of rhetoric from the new UK government has been hugely welcome - stating clearly that universities are a great public good, an asset to protect, and that international students are very welcome in the UK. But we still need to fill a policy vacuum on higher education and turn warm rhetoric into reality - and we must not be naive to think that the forces against universities, that say there are "too many" universities and that they do not deliver value, are no longer present. Nick Jennings, vice chancellor of Loughborough University, said: "We haven't always been good at explaining why we exist and what we do... we used to be able to take it broadly for granted that folk would appreciate the value of universities. That is no longer the case. We need to make the case." Lisa Roberts, vice chancellor of the University of Exeter, said that the sector has to to a much better job to explain how university funding works, and how student tuition fees are spent. "The public have seen other national institutions having a tough time and having to cut costs... so it is not surprising that the public are not prioritising universities in the list of priorities where we need to fix funding." On protecting the sector against caps or reductions in international students, Nishan Canagarajah, vice chancellor of the University of Leicester said the great financial value of international students is very well documented, but "more work to be done" to change the mistaken perception that "universities are favouring international students over domestic students" or compromising quality to admit them. Do listen to the full, rich conversation, and share your own views below. This is vital to get right and to keep working on.

It’s incredible. Less than 24 hours after posting my critique of #ukhe senior management and administration, I’ve been contacted directly by tens of individuals, echoing the sentiment but feeling unable to speak out publicly. Some being concerned, despite being University and College Union (UCU) members! Reflections describe University management as “amateur”, “governance…as sophisticated as a corner shop”. VCs are thought of as “used car salesmen” [sic], and those calling for reform only now as “rank opportunists”. People feel there’s a lack philosophical grounding in universities - on which I entirely agree, and for which PhD study needs urgent reform (1) - and that management lacks grounding in research and methodologically rigorous process, eg using bad statistical methods in internal decision making “students do as we teach you, not as we do” etc. The truely damming point here is that the UK has a university system is governed by widespread fear (based on the geographies of these messages) to apply critical thought and speak publically in discourses too far from the dominant. And that makes sense given the tribal sociology and patronage drive structuring of departments and institutions. Where does this existential challenge to the institution of the university leave us Phil Baty? Up for getting a web panel organised to give voice to some of the more challenging issues? 1) https://lnkd.in/eJC2xTqb