It is a rare politician who takes on a complex problem that offers little electoral dividend just ahead of an election they expect to lose. This reality is troubling Labour strategists who fear that Conservatives are parking a number of issues in the file marked “another party’s problem”. One such toxic parcel is the brewing financial crisis in UK higher education.What makes this particularly sad is that the great universities are one of the UK’s success stories. World rankings show Britain boasts more top rated institutions than the rest of the EU put together. Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial rank in the top 10. Four more are in the top 50. The UK has long been a leading destination for international students and academics.
And yet universities face severe challenges, a situation not helped by a government that feels no great love for a sector it accuses of breeding anti-conservative values. Tories argue with some justification that there are too many undergraduates, often taking courses of limited economic value in the arts and humanities, and that the country needs to shift focus towards vocational skills.
Most pressing is a deepening funding crisis. Undergraduate tuition fees in England, capped at £9,250 (£9,000 in Wales), are being eroded by inflation, while research and teaching grants are falling as a percentage of income. Universities UK estimates the £9,250 will be worth £5,800 by 2025-26. The research-intensive Russell Group institutions claim English universities made an average loss of £2,500 per domestic student last year. (Scotland, with a different funding model, has similarly tight budgets.) There is a shortfall in funding for postgraduate research. Universities are also under further financial pressure over pension payments.