Universities plead for pounds 2bn as fears over quality grow
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.UNIVERSITY funding has dropped by 25 per cent for each student in the past four years, vice- chancellors said yesterday. They warned that standards of teaching were bound to be affected by the shortfall, writes Fran Abrams.
The Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals has forecast further cuts of 14 per cent per student in real terms in the next three years, in addition to the 25 per cent drop since 1990.
In a bid for public funds, it asked for more than pounds 2bn to cover urgent maintenance work, library expansions, new technology and safety measures. Insurance against terrorist attacks cost the universities pounds 5m a year, it said.
In the past 10 years the proportion of school-leavers going to university has risen from one in five to almost one in three, but funding has not kept pace with this growth.
Although the universities attract pounds 1.5bn in foreign exchange from overseas students, universities are still unable to employ sufficient staff or to reduce a pounds 1bn backlog of maintenance work, the submission says.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments