University funding/finances

Changing loan terms ‘might not be popular’ and would cost average graduate £10,000 but could be better than cutting places or funding, says Hepi paper

Latest attempt to replicate Darpa brings bipartisan praise but also wariness of potential harm to basic health research

Economist says university innovations can rejuvenate Australian productivity, but only if ‘bizarre’ tax arrangements are addressed

University retreats under pressure by pausing graduation plans for critic of pro-Trump insurrectionists

As Australian minister calls for an online shift to reach 10 million foreigners, insiders warn such offering wouldn’t meet students’ needs

Largely sheltered from the pandemic-related financial fallout that has beset higher education in Western nations, East Asian institutions are being boosted by state funds and local philanthropists and are looking to be even more competitive internationally

Outreach with less prestigious and rural institutions vital, sector leaders say

Government’s lifelong loans plan is fuelling drive to cut system costs and ‘spatchcocking a good idea’, sector figures fear

As post-92 departments close, non-traditional students and scholars risk being shut out – again, says Panikos Panayi

Aggrieved Victorian universities should see new mental health levy as an opportunity to harness resources, conference hears

Michelle Donelan also quizzed on campus free speech and antisemitism at GuildHE conference

Covid helps end eight years of average increases, with wide state variations

When the country embarks on recovery from its brutal second Covid wave, public spending on universities is unlikely to be a priority, says Pushkar 

Institutions accused of ‘opportunism’ over job cuts

Statistics Netherlands finds that a switch away from grants has cut some students’ education short – despite government promises

Sector figures disagree on whether DfE is on board with using £7,500 cap to cut loan outlay and ‘squeeze’ non-priority subjects

Underwhelming increases in teaching subsidies and student benefits, while research misses out

English universities argue foundation years diversify STEM intake, as Augar call to scrap funding comes back on agenda

Universities out of the budget spotlight, as attention turns to training and commercial research

Policy should focus more on research’s benefits to a region than on where it is conducted, say Sarah Chaytor, Grace Gottlieb and Graeme Reid

Researchers advocate realignment of international agencies, saying sector cannot wait for the next instalment of China’s trade war

Low expectations scarcely met, as pessimistic border projections and underwhelming future spending estimates trump spending pledges

Visa reform would offset declining domestic enrolments, spread US values and give students the education they want, says Kent Devereaux

With a $300 billion price tag, campaign promise met with scepticism – and long-term optimism

While Australia’s new-look certificates deliver a sugar hit to institutional coffers, experts question the long-term benefits

Australian budget wish list also includes more research funding and extended transition funding for the new fee and subsidy regime

Universities Superannuation Scheme will develop ‘meaningful short-, medium- and long-term targets’ towards carbon neutrality

At least 10 Australian universities in the red, after three Victorian institutions notch A$50 million deficits

Concentrating funding on top universities around Beijing and Shanghai risks alienating students forced to settle for less exalted institutions, researchers say

Credit analysts warn of mass job losses, struggling peripheral businesses and homogenisation of the student mix

President offers states three-to-one split on college aid boost alongside 20 per cent rise in Pell Grant

With wealth and donations becoming concentrated in ever fewer, ever more influential hands, and with some institutions languishing while the elite flourish, Paul Basken asks whether it is time for American colleges and universities to start biting the hand that feeds   

Ratings agency credits lay-offs, casualisation and course cuts for Australian universities’ ‘relatively robust’ position

Losses far worse than they appear on paper, v-c warns, as institution reels from plunging investment and international income

Trudeau backs spending despite deep deficit, yet still disappoints academic researchers

Polling accompanied by call for Westminster government to set out more details of lifetime learning plans

Action is clearly needed to shore up the USS, but the trustee needs to be more flexible, says Alistair Jarvis

The woeful environmental record of the UK’s research-intensive universities illustrates a lack of leadership and incentives to cut emissions, says Bill Spence

London Higher says government proposal will ‘take away a lifeline’ for city’s universities

Three countries even received double-digit increases in 2020, but with so much new government debt, some fear cuts could be in store further down the line

While concern has centred on vulnerable flows from China, an Indian exodus could prove more devastating

The pandemic experience shows universities of all kinds are willing to be partners for policy delivery, says Debra Humphris

Salary boost might be more effective than legal crackdowns in thwarting international recruiting and funding approaches, argues Oklahoma representative

Higher education priorities include racial and economic diversity, and science

Australian university shrugs off Covid’s financial wrecking ball and even manages to bolster its insurance against future ‘shocks’

Infrastructure plan poised to bring millions of new students as well as billions of research dollars

Huntington accepts separation from Laurentian, but Thorneloe sees danger to students and faculty nationwide

Katherine Fleming tells THE event New York University would ‘turn into a gigantic teaching institution for data science’ if it responded to outside pressure

Long-term public and economic health depends on empowering universities, businesses and health systems to work together, says Michael Spence

First institutional accounts reveal mixed results, with many institutions weathering the Covid storm but some plunging into deficit

A strategic rejection of digital instruction is akin to France’s short-sighted attempt to prevent invasion in the 1930s, says Robert Zaretsky

Province appears determined to deploy widely criticised tactic once Covid eases

With overseas enrolments hitting the buffers during the pandemic, debate rages over whether higher education’s excessive reliance on this income stream is self-inflicted – and how universities can keep themselves on the financial rails in future. John Ross reports

Regulator goes ahead with new guidance despite opposition from sector, citing impact of Covid-19 on sector finances

More pain in store for Australian universities, as bankruptcy beckons the colleges and agencies that scaffold their international operations

Further protests hit university campuses as pressure on ‘missing middle’ mounts

Universities face ban on deals with foreign partners that lack ‘institutional autonomy’, as they wrestle with similar demons

Academics say universities are in the dark over their future funding levels, and ‘compulsory’ higher education policy creates overly high expectations for students

Brussels-backed pilot project has borne fruit, but leaders say creating ‘seamless mobility’ across continent has been even more expensive and bureaucratic than expected

Amid the economic ravages inflicted by the coronavirus, the EU has agreed a huge stimulus package. But while research in some countries looks set for a transformational boost, it may be a different story for teaching