5th January 2012
· Public funding forecast to drop by 44% over next three years as students are forced to foot the bill
· Student funding of higher education to rise to its highest level since the 1890s
The Government’s university funding reforms will see annual public spending on teaching and research in England fall to its lowest proportion in over a century, according to analysis published today (Thursday) by the University and College Union (UCU).
The research, which comes as ministers prepare to announce the 2012 higher education grant letter, forecasts that by 2014/15 annual government funding for teaching and research will make up just 15.0% of universities’ income - the lowest since the 1900s.
The union estimates that in the space of three years annual public funding for teaching and research will fall by 44%, from £6.6bn in 2011/12 to £3.7bn in 2014/15.
The study also highlights how as spending on teaching and research falls, the burden on students to fund higher education will increase. By 2013/2014 the proportion students contribute to university funding (through higher tuition fees) will be 47.2% - the highest since the 1890s.
UCU said the research highlighted a retreat from public investment in higher education in England and accused the government of passing the buck for funding universities from the state to the student.
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: “This study shows how over the last thirty years higher education funding has shifted from the state to the student. This government’s regressive university reforms will accelerate this process further and see annual public investment in teaching and research fall to its lowest proportion in over a century.
“These plans will put at risk decades of progress in opening up access to education and will endanger the health of the sector. You cannot maintain a world-class university system in the 21st century by turning the clock back to the 1900s and before. Our universities are a public good that currently generate billions for economy, why put that at risk by starving institutions of public funds and forcing students to foot the bill?"
HEIs in England |
Tuition
fee
income £000 |
Recurrent
funding
income
£000 |
Total
income
£000* |
Tuition fee income as % total income of English HEIs |
Recurrent
funding
as %
total
income of
English HEIs |
1895-6 (excl Ox & Cam) |
64 |
16 |
147 |
43.5% |
10.9% |
1900-01 |
77 |
24 |
179 |
43.0% |
13.4% |
1908-9 |
173 |
143 |
536 |
32.3% |
26.7% |
1910-11 |
174 |
157 |
550 |
31.6% |
28.5% |
1920-21 |
736 |
631 |
2,161 |
34.1% |
29.2% |
1930-31 (now incl Ox & Cam) |
1,096 |
1,557 |
4,621 |
23.7% |
33.7% |
1938-39 |
1,636 |
1,807 |
5,334 |
30.7% |
33.9% |
1950-51 |
3,209 |
12,498 |
19,460 |
16.5% |
64.2% |
1960-61 |
4,982 |
39,485 |
55,507 |
9.0% |
71.1% |
1970-71 |
15,780 |
178,953 |
253,560 |
6.2% |
70.6% |
1980-81 |
209,468 |
774,928 |
1,247,125 |
16.8% |
62.1% |
1990-91 |
697,965 |
1,344,732 |
3,424,421 |
20.4% |
39.3% |
2000-01 |
2,589,365 |
4,299,885 |
11,068,645 |
23.4% |
38.8% |
2009-10 |
7,142,075 |
7,280,128 |
22,122,316 |
32.3% |
32.9% |
2010-11 (forecast) |
7,639,495 |
7,152,756 |
22,616,431 |
33.8% |
31.6% |
2011-12 (forecast) |
7,998,530 |
6,608,685 |
22,547,945 |
35.5% |
29.3% |
2012-13 (forecast) |
9,746,199 |
5,387,648 |
23,269,410 |
41.9% |
23.2% |
2013-14 (forecast) |
11,331,960 |
4,325,244 |
24,002,999 |
47.2% |
18.0% |
2014-15 (UCU projection) |
|
3,723,000 |
24,771,095 |
|
15.0% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
*net income from 2009-10, less share of joint venture income
Source: Treasury Minute, Board of Education, UGC, UFC, HESA, English HEI financial forecasts (HEFCE) (data not available between 1901-02 and 1907-08); % calculations by UCU.
Source: Treasury Minute, Board of Education, UGC, UFC, HESA, English HEI financial forecasts (HEFCE) (data not available between 1901-02 and 1907-08); % calculations by UCU.
www.ucu.org.uk
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