UK universities: businesses or public services?

A fascinating BBC Radio 4 Bottom Line programme on university businesses last month (9th Feb 2019). Headlines:

1. UK university expansion over recent years has been due mainly to cheap borrowing* (sometimes govt backed), not increase in fees, which was broadly like-for-like shift of burden from Govt to private individual

2. University income is mainly from fees (c.50%), but also top-up from govt (e.g. for science), research funding (15-25%), and other (events, accommodation, etc); commercialisation of IP rare and sporadic

3. UK universities face three main threats: fee reduction (possible 2/3 current), visas (students can’t stay on), and Brexit (European students in particular); implications for sciences, which are more expensive to run than arts, and follow on policy implications

4. Changes to university fees (e.g. down to c.£6-7k) would hit some universities much harder than others; possible outcomes: a) merging with other Unis, or b) govt bail out (made more challenging due to govt backed loans); insolvency questioned due to existing govt backing and potential impact internationally, though bail out also questioned due to recent bail out of banks

*Over and above the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, which allowed ‘polytechnics' to be given university status