Canny credit

Universities still have a lot to learn about raising external funds. The overwhelming majority, for example, seem to think that because they are public bodies, outsiders should have free access to their accounts. The Association of University Teachers has been in search of these accounts in order to build up a financial database on UK universities in 1996-97. One astute institution demanded cash up front. When the next set of accounts appears St Andrews University will have chalked up Pounds 10.