The funding of Britain’s higher education establishments, once a topic which was confined to specialist supplements of national newspapers and erudite trade magazines, is now firmly placed in the news sections from the tabloids to broadsheets.
The coalition government’s decision to remove the cap on university fees has been the main catalyst for most of this editorial coverage. Did David Willetts, minister of universities and science, and his coalition cohorts really believe that some universities would accept lower fees than their rivals in a desperate dash for students?
Or more poignantly, can they afford not to increase their fees given the reduced subsidies now on offer from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)? The lack of empirical research by the government and failure to realise the implications of their decision means really tricky decisions and a period of great uncertainty for many in the sector. The report from the Public Accounts Committee that the current balance of outstanding loans is expected to rise from the current £25bn to £70bn by 2015-16, highlighting a possible reduction in student quotas, only highlights the growing turmoil.
So, what happens next? In summary a great deal of further uncertainty, some reorganisation of existing resources and courses, along with intense campaigns to find new sources of funding.
Unpopular courses with low numbers of students at less popular institutions will face the executioners axe; popular over- subscribed courses will be asked to increase their numbers; and senior academics will travel the world desperately looking for the holy grail of student recruitment, rich seams of foreigners able to afford upwards of £30,000 for the privilege of an English higher education.
Education officials from the ‘Stans’ of Central Asia (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan etc), rich in commodity reserves but low in academic establishments, will be cultivated so they offer English university places to emerging talent using local government backed schemes.
The emerging economic superpowers of China and India will be popular locations for education alliances while many will seek international partnerships of varying sizes and arrangements with some following the example of the University of Nottingham and establishing fully fledged overseas campuses.
Closer to home, alumni from multi-national companies will be approached to secure branding and sponsorship opportunities with their alma mater. The nationally-leading initiative pioneered by KPMG and Durham Business School to offer what amounts to a degree and a job at the end could become widespread. Naming rights will no longer be confined to sports stadia and concert venues! We are following the US trend.
The first mainstream two-year degree courses outside private universities and colleges cannot be long in coming and the popularity of correspondence courses will continue.
The marketing communications teams at universities are also being asked to give greater emphasis to raising their respective establishment’s profile in order to attract an increased number of sponsors, students and grants.
Will all these changes devalue the education on offer? Will some English universities fail to survive in this new commercial age? The jury is out but one thing is certain, the hallowed corridors of higher education are facing the chilling wind of commercial change.
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