University funding/finances

Universities need to confront, rather than ignore, uncomfortable questions about the worth of higher education to be in with a fighting chance

Outgoing vice-chancellor reflects on four years in what many regard as English higher education’s toughest job

The government is wrong to portray campus surpluses as ‘slush funds’, says expert

Federal structure has led to ‘expansion based purely on regional political interests’, says report

Too many partisan board members are causing the university pensions dispute to drag on, says Adrian Bell

But Labor’s Tanya Plibersek fuels concerns that funding could be diverted to further education

Privatisation or nationally funded consortia are the only solutions to US public education’s financial malaise, says Sheldon H. Jacobson

Academics raise concerns over the priorities of international development agencies

Don’t blame university support staff for not joining the strike over pensions – it is because too often they are left out of the conversation, says Fiona Whelan

Warwick's vice-chancellor Stuart Croft explains how radical government action might help to avert the pensions strike affecting half of all UK universities

Achieving the prime minister’s goal of reshaping post-18 education will require another shake-up of sector regulation, warn experts

Group of Eight chair aims to demonstrate that the benefits of higher education outweigh the costs

Labor wants further and higher education to be ‘equally attractive’ to prospective students

Survey results emerge amid mounting criticism of government’s hopes of delivering greater price competition

Market forces unleashed on the UK university sector have pushed up senior pay, fuelled the rows over it and posed questions about ‘value for money’ that are shaping the future of universities

Andrew McRae explores what effects the value debate could have on the structure of the sector

Our annual pay review details v-cs’ remuneration, explores the make-up and workings of the governing bodies that set it, and compares the rewards on offer with those of other sectors

Murky cross-subsidy between university courses must be addressed by the government’s review of higher education funding, argues David Robinson

Former education secretary Justine Greening explains her plans for a graduate contribution system that funds universities in the same way that national insurance covers state pensions

The Times Higher Education editorial team discusses the UK's long-awaited higher education funding review 

The University of Essex’s vice-chancellor explains why he disagrees with Universities UK’s position on USS pension reform

Aim is to preserve 'the best of the system we have' while making funding fairer, universities minister tells THE

Students unlikely to be won over by tweaks to current funding arrangements, says sector leader

London Economics modelling suggests that higher earners would be the primary beneficiaries of many potential reforms

Prime minister to express concern that England ‘has one of the most expensive systems of university tuition in the world’

Ahead of the prime minister’s speech on reforming university funding, Charles B. W. Prince suggests four routes to improving student finance

Damian Hinds says he would like to see degree ‘options available which have different costs’

Treasury Committee says government has failed to justify why student loan interest rates should exceed those prevailing in the market

Additional support for institutions could be co-funded by national governments and the European Union, say rectors 

Analysis of government data reveals that Australian universities’ surpluses have effectively halved over the past six years, says Conor King

Lower sticker price for degrees would do nothing to help poorer students, says London Economics analysis

Rare disciplines face a multitude of threats but are key to the biodiversity of academia, advocates say

President Meric Gertler says move will boost international numbers at university whose urban location shapes its profile and research activities

Higher education expert warns that widening access could suffer if funding for financial aid is eroded

Committee chair Robert Halfon calls for universities to offer more technical degrees or lose state funding

Devolved administration’s move puts pressure on Westminster government to confirm post-Brexit arrangements in England

Universities South Africa head says it is too early to say whether institutions will successfully roll out new system

Infrastructure plans at English universities may be derailed by credit downgrade and loss of access to European Investment Bank, says regulator

Canadian scientists’ impressive campaign for increased basic science funding risks splintering as victory looms, says Jim Woodgett

Denmark is not receiving repayments from 40 per cent of EU loan recipients from 2016

Aston University head warns mooted cuts to tuition fees in England will only benefit wealthiest graduates

Institutional leaders tell survey that current avalanche of criticism ‘lacks substance’

The government’s unilateral move to rein in costs is the inevitable result of a volatile and emotive political climate, says Warren Bebbington

Cabinet reshuffle offers universities the chance of a relationship reset before they are likely caught in the first swell of a global wave of funding reviews

Ibero-American University of Science and Technology closed after an investigation found the institution to have debts of about 4 billion pesos

More than half of new budget will go to the University of Luxembourg

Ongoing ministerial education reviews risk treating technical and academic education as separate pathways, says Quintin McKellar, and this could be to the detriment of both

Privately run vocational courses likely to be big beneficiaries of Gratuidad, which supports poorer students

With students paying higher fees and expecting better facilities, UK universities must find sustainable ways to increase capital expenditure, says Philip Stephenson

Economics scholar estimates impact of new excise tax on university endowments 

Hollie Chandler urges ministers not to underestimate the true contribution of international students to the UK

The latest edition of Times Higher Education discussed by the editorial team

Former Downing Street policy guru Nick Timothy says former education secretary resisted university funding review and potential tuition fee cuts

College sport is deeply woven into US culture and commerce. But a long series of scandals has pointed the glare of publicity away from the basketball courts and football fields towards the athletics programmes themselves. Jon Marcus reports

A precise breakdown of foreign learners’ contributions to all areas and sectors of British life could help finally move the group out of the net migration count

Sam Gyimah and Damian Hinds will remove obstacles to major review and keep universities in the media spotlight, say experts  

UCU plan would maintain defined benefit scheme, but has been branded ‘unaffordable’ by universities

Analysis by Deloitte raises questions about current weightings for teaching and research funding

Governments could ‘abandon’ support for sector unless countries that attract graduates recompense those that taught them, academic warns

The uncapped system had many benefits but its cost was ultimately too high for politicians to bear, writes Andrew Norton