University funding/finances

Uncapped funding best way of dealing with demographic ‘kinks’, Australian forum told

Lifting cap increased participation but was not accompanied by more support for non-traditional students, says Productivity Commission

Government reportedly suspects campuses are not fully transparent about global ties

Narrowing financial buffers raise questions over Australian universities’ goals of being comprehensive

Last year’s scandal over the ministerial vetoing of Australian research grants coincided with the centenary of the fabled principle that politicians should keep out of such decisions. But with governments becoming increasingly ideological and desperate for innovation-fuelled growth, does scientific autonomy have a future? Rachael Pells investigates 

After fears that government could seek to cut fees without replacement funding, review chair stresses plans are interconnected

Australian universities kept doing what they were already doing after government froze teaching funds

V-c who chairs financial sustainability group warns that deficit on doctoral training raises major questions

Administrations ease back on foreign fee splurge to avoid financial overexposure and to protect student experience

Augar review’s call to replace lost income ‘not credible’, says Lord Willetts, while Jo Johnson warns that any such funding stream could be ‘slush fund’ for ministerial projects

Peers hear debate about whether English universities might become more reliant on international students if fee cut recommended by Augar review is implemented without replacement funding

Reviving maintenance grants will redirect taxpayers’ money to those who don’t need it. Better to spend it on lifelong learning, says Ryan Shorthouse

Anna McKie explores what the recommendations mean for universities, students, graduates and taxpayers

The UK’s TEF experience should be a warning to Australia’s re-elected government not to settle for empty accountability, says William Locke 

The risk is high that a future government will not replace lost fee funding with the investment universities need, says Bill Rammell

Cost growth still set to outstrip funding, as ‘fees free’ absorbs the fat

School’s new student intake fell by nearly 40 per cent in just two years

The panel have skilfully avoided some potential elephant traps and have come up with a sensible and wide-ranging view that deserves political attention – even if it doesn’t get it, says Nick Hillman

Consumerism, technology and the culture wars threaten to render critical thinking an unwanted skill, worries Victor Ferrall

Survival depends on institutional buy-in to a fundamental questioning of operating models and cost structures, says Angus Laing

Education secretary’s comments likely to be seen as preparing ground for post-18 review to recommend shifts or cuts in funding

‘Competition in scientific research has gone too far,’ says government-appointed committee proposing wide-ranging reform package

Cardiff policymakers unlikely to be able to make up lost tuition fee income while continuing generous maintenance support

Chancellor opposes extra spending on universities, sources suggest, as universities minister dodges questions on report publication

V-c who left school at 16 before entering university without A levels says university’s social mission is irreplaceable

Stanford University’s insistence that its press break even is another bleak milestone in corporatisation, says David Palumbo-Liu

System president says new academic hiring programme and innovation network will boost university following financial issues

A review following the latest iteration of the PBRF could lead to radical changes that undermine the gains made, warns Roger Smyth

Falling UK graduate wages reflect not too many students but a flexible labour market’s post-crash adjustment, argues David Willetts

US experience suggests budget shift has little impact on colleges’ results

Money pledged for universities carved up and back-ended, opposition document suggests

Initial moves on 2020 budget suggest another reversal of Trump priorities

Private equity-owned BIMM to receive £2.4m in teaching grant as OfS funds new providers for first time

But THE analysis also suggests windfall for institutions if fall in student recruitment is modest 

Dutch universities are conspicuously and consistently successful. Yet their funding is declining and their embrace of internationalism has put them on a collision course with the populist right. John Morgan assesses the mood in Leiden, Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Maastricht

Monash wish list includes new agency, universal learning entitlement and ‘coherent’ funding model

Retirees are being invited to live and take classes alongside younger students. Jon Marcus reports

Fresh worries over poor English-language ability of some international students

Elite institutions making last-ditch bid to block multimillion-dollar levy

Proposals for delayed report have to be judged in the round – including implications for those who don’t go to university, says David Robinson

Hundreds of professors had signed petition opposing scrapping of annual subsidy from parent institution

Struggles of Hampshire College suggest to some that students may be reluctant to shape their own degrees in a debt-heavy, career-focused higher education sector

University threat to cut $1.7 million annual subsidy generates widespread protest

Proposal would also withdraw financial support for students from the European Union

Australia’s vice-chancellors must wake up: China's munificence is all motivated by its vast geopolitical ambition, says Nick Forster

The quality of Indian higher education outside a few elite institutions is notoriously poor, and a slew of initiatives aimed at addressing it have made little impact so far. Simon Baker analyses the data to assess the scale of the challenge and asks what more could and should be done

But revival of the demand-driven system would be a mixed blessing, consultant warns

Student action shows US colleges far from accepting their slavery-related debts

Ford administration is blind to incompatibility of statistical metrics and quality teaching, academics warn

Philosopher calls on universities to take AI debate ‘out of the hands of the industry’ and end ‘ethics washing’

Fractures emerge between Democratic candidates – but they, and even Republicans, actually share broad concerns on affordability

The Chinese tech giant’s challenge for universities will be far from an isolated case and universities are not prepared for the nuanced reaction required, says John Ross 

Former universities minister says that, while parents of students with poorer A-levels could pay fees up front, less affluent families could not

A Labor victory in May’s election could still see funding conditional on universities’ employability, diversity or research records, says Andrew Norton

Big datasets linking higher education participation to a range of socio-economic factors are useful and fascinating, but their translation into policy remains fraught 

The advent of datasets linking graduates’ income to their student records has fuelled calls for certain courses and universities to be excluded from public funding. But, ahead of England’s Augar review of post-18 education, the minister who commissioned the longitudinal education outcomes project, David Willetts, warns against such abuses of the data

Hundreds of jobs endangered by £142 million increase in contributions to Teachers’ Pension Scheme, universities say

After more than doubling its spending since the financial crisis, Germany’s long budget boom is set to come to an end

Despite its tarnished reputation and history of collapsed ventures, the for-profit sector retains a strong foothold on the US academy. Paul Basken tracks its successes and failures

Australian government accused of ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’