University funding and finances

Delays in the name of political PR ‘forcing academics overseas’

Revolt by four-year campuses in US shows challenge of expanding federal role

Analysts say added flexibility is welcome but question how horse-trading scheme would work

New figures raise question of whether government has thwarted progress on its own policy priority

Federal institutions vow to fight back against Jair Bolsonaro’s restrictive policies

Alberta joins Ontario in cutting university funding and hiking tuition fees

While some universities are funding huge building projects out of international student fees, an increasing number in Australia and elsewhere are finding that the ground beneath their feet is the best foundation for reaching to the sky. But should universities really be swapping ivory towers for commercial skyscrapers? John Ross cranes his neck and wonders 

Scheme means universities can spend levy money on own training for lecturers instead of seeing it claimed by government

Julie Bishop tells Times Higher Education interview that Australia’s universities should rank better

Coalition finally succeeds in dispatching the nest egg it initiated last decade

Constitutional Council decision could strike a blow against expansion plan for international students and grandes écoles’ fees policy

Experts sceptical of free-college methods, but welcome party-wide commitment for 2020 poll

Ucea report suggests more direct methods of reining in staff spending are being used amid financial pressure

Hundred-year loans offer US universities big benefits, some risk, and queasiness

The volatility of current affairs means that the old certainties about how to identify receptive markets are gone, says Anna Esaki-Smith

Universities should offer a safety net for recent graduates forced into menial work by financial circumstances, says Roy Celaire

Focus on graduate employment means universities will be judged on an issue over which they have limited control

New Social Democrat administration drops annual 2 per cent saving target, but could end teaching subsidy for humanities and social sciences

Funding challenges need cooperative spirit among educators, finance officers say

Julia Buckingham also aims to protect funding, as response to Augar review is debated

Graduate employment given double the weighting of other metrics in TEF-style assessments

History suggests that universities will lure students with the chance to repay fees via post-graduation work, says Peter Brady

Chris Skidmore says Augar review recommendation to cut tuition fees in England would lead to university closures

A cross-continental push to improve Europe’s best universities will make them more globally competitive, says Jan Palmowski

As governments around the world increasingly look to follow US states’ lead and link university funding to the recruitment, retention and employability of students, Paul Basken surveys the results of the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education US College Rankings 2020 for clues about the strategy’s effectiveness 

Weeks after Trump vow to strengthen HBCUs, key Republican senator causes row by tying funding to wider HE legislation

University study centre ‘positive’ on Islam but not Christianity, objects senior Department of Education official

One in 12 students now pays to go private in Germany, attracted by ‘niche’ courses, smaller classes and flexible learning schedules

English universities may have shifted towards low-cost subjects under £9K fee regime, ‘exacerbating’ inefficiency in the system, say economists

A policy to recruit genuinely the brightest and best students would have to look beyond revenue maximisation

Trump adviser plans multi-agency tour of universities confused by crackdown

Contrition helps actress who paid to get answers changed on her daughter's SAT

Caitlin Zaloom considers how we can prevent escalating fees from tying students to their parents well into adulthood

Brexit, domestic funding threats and declining public trust could conspire to undermine a critical national asset, says Louise Richardson

Domestic students benefit for now as foreign classmates cancel out provincial budget cuts

Chancellor’s omission of any mention of post-18 review cements impression that plans for fee cut are dead

New strategy advocates a hybrid version of demand-driven funding, but acknowledges it is a long-term proposition

Betting the farm on international students is a gamble – but what’s the alternative? asks THE’s Asia-Pacific editor John Ross 

Productivity needs will drive taxpayer support of universities in the ‘medium term’, minister tells conference

UNSW takes action to insure itself against drop in Chinese student recruitment

Experts raise further concerns over excellence initiative after 14 more universities granted elite status

Scottish university forges new research partnership with the Caribbean, in response to groundbreaking report

Institutions assume they will be bailed out if enrolments fall because they are ‘too big to fail’, says report

Massive fee for those narrowly missing acceptance seen as warning of abandoned principles

First Complete University Guide survey since Augar review raises prospect of domestic master’s fees overtaking annual charges for undergraduates

Under pressure, state leader spreads smaller reduction over three years

Legal structure could offer opportunities for horse trading on proposed scheme

Diverse measures guard against unintended consequences but suggest few universities can achieve top marks

Deloitte report suggests teaching costs have accelerated as funding stalls

Lords committee says Augar panel ‘missed mark’ in not considering how reducing tuition fees could force universities to divert research income to teaching

‘Distinctive Australian’ scheme will ‘buffer out unintended consequences’, architect says

Retention, graduate employment, student feedback and widening participation to guide distribution

States have rolled back funding as Washington has stepped in – and this must stop, says Louisiana State president

Decades of racial division hindering academia’s ability to alleviate poverty

Tuition comprises less than half the cost of attending US universities, but taxpayers may be unwilling to cover it, says Anthony P. Carnevale

The live unveiling of Germany’s Excellence Strategy institutions is greeted by champagne, confetti and a changing of attitudes

Lack of a functioning executive and threat of a no-deal Brexit have put Northern Irish universities in jeopardy: could a new university help?

As Labor hands EIF potential lifeline, ex-chair of its board says money could insulate HE against international income risks

New campus after seven years of CMU operations in Rwanda raises hopes, questions of sustainability

Minority institutions wary of big candidate promises to lavish them with support