University funding/finances

IPPR report offers stark warning over £6,000 plans

Ministers should extend student loans to many more part-time students to remedy a “crisis” in recruitment, a thinktank commission is set to recommend

Parallel sectors would overcome problems of ‘one-size-fits-all’ funding, group argues

Despite loss of teaching grant, universities must still comply with enrolment targets

Minister and BIS take close interest in study with enormous policy implications

Groups of universities could raise funding for postgraduate student loans by issuing bonds, a report by the thinktank CentreForum has suggested.

Moving medical education and research funding to the Department of Health would “pose a significant threat to the UK’s leading position” in the fields, medical schools have warned George Osborne.

Russell Group’s latest members have agreed to stump up £500,000 each

Stay-at-home students who attend a local university should be eligible for cut-price tuition fees of £5,000 a year, according to an influential commission of higher education experts

Lowering tuition fees to £6,000 – a policy put forward by Labour - could cost the Treasury the same as the current £9,000 set-up, a study has claimed.

Full disclosure could break competition law, conference hears

Institutions consider projects to take advantage of VAT exemption

£9,000 limit poses threat to quality and income, conference hears

Treatment to avoid cuts would do more harm than good, critics say

Alastair Bonnett visits Lincoln’s Social Science Centre, a cooperative, free university attempting to build a different kind of knowledge economy

Less than 10 years since their introduction, tuition fees will soon disappear from the country. Frances Mechan-Schmidt reports

Nation likely to lose fruitful position in UK research system, experts say

Universities minister David Willetts has defended the student finance system against criticisms that it is unsustainable and will not bring in the amount of money required to fund the sector long term.

Body defends science and social mobility funds from spending review

UK universities must form business partnerships to demonstrate the need for public investment. By Elizabeth Gibney

Sixteen UK higher education institutions are to benefit from a £50 million investment in research projects designed to drive economic growth, the universities and science minister has said.

The government’s innovation agency the Technology Strategy Board will see a £50 million boost to its budget this year, the government has announced.

V-c believes ‘radical solution’ is the way to rise up the rankings. John Morgan reports

Details have been released about proposals to allow universities in England to win more undergraduate places if they can show they are recruiting strongly.

Leader sought to guide Hefce through period of upheaval

Fossil Free urges universities to dump holdings in fuel companies

Universities are to benefit from a reduced administrative burden in supplying information about their costs, but government pressure to give more of such data to students has met with a cool response.

Existing legislation fails to cover Student Loans Company cash

The rest of the world thinks so, says Hefce funding chief

Geraldine Van Bueren says international law could help opponents of rising tuition costs in their battle

School pupils from poorer backgrounds could be contacted by the government to nudge them towards applying to university if they get good GCSE grades, David Willetts has said.

UUK chief looks to impact to save budget from Augean economy

Wales’ institutions gain funds as a result of cross-border flow under new fees regime

Gurminder Bhambra supports the students and staff contesting the hollowing-out of the University of Sussex’s collegial ideals

Steve Smith warns of looming budgetary issues that could send institutions off the road

It is morally wrong to deny University of Sussex students 24/7 support from flexible, professional campus services, says John Duffy

A huge cut to the Australian higher education budget announced just months before the next federal election is the largest since 1996, according to umbrella body Universities Australia.

Improved procurement could be the secret to balancing the sector’s books in tough times, Nick Petford and Andy Davies suggest

Demise of matched funding leaves majority of institutions worse off. David Matthews reports

Report says distribution would change little if based on institutions’ research council income

Could a Welsh institution’s success offer insights to help stragglers catch up?

Overall funding for Welsh universities is set to increase by 13.6 per cent next academic year.

Newcastle University is to launch a new £7 million centre for undersea and offshore engineering on the site of a famous former shipyard.

Better regional R&D strategies needed to access structural funds, sector told.

Speculation mounts that reform has diminished leadership role

Sir Alan Langlands is to leave his job as chief executive of England’s funding council to become vice-chancellor of the University of Leeds, where he has been welcomed as a “stellar figure” in higher education.

Tim McInnis, the former director of the alumni relations office at Durham University, has left the institution to join a cancer charity.

Austerity a greater threat than Moocs and private providers, writes John Morgan

Ministers advised to reverse ban on second degree funding

Further shrinkage as funding reforms take fuller effect

The English higher education sector last year saw its first real-terms cut in income since records began almost 20 years ago, while institutional finances will take a further hit this year because of the fall in student numbers under higher fees.

Universities UK has been asked by David Willetts to undertake a review of part-time study and make urgent recommendations in response to a report which shows a “dramatic decline” in part-time students.

‘Unpredictable outcomes’ of reform require ‘immediate attention

Scholars in arts and humanities departments vulnerable to subsidy cuts are fighting back. John Marcus reports

The tuition fee cap will remain at £9,000 in 2014-15, meaning the government is allowing most universities’ income to be eroded by inflation, while students’ grants for living expenses will be held back with a below-inflation rise.

Spending by English universities rose faster than their income did in the year before £9,000 tuition fees were introduced, while institutions again increased their reliance on fees paid by overseas students.

Further austerity measures could wreak havoc with BIS’ stretched finances

Whoever wins the next election, uncapped enrolments and a big student loan book must be addressed, say observers

Universities plan cost-sharing groups once VAT exemption rules are clarified. By Jack Grove

Student accommodation provider UPP has launched its first bond, backed by the income from student residences at five universities.