hee news


Students wants bankrupt universities to be rescued


THE Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) has released the only dedicated study on what UK students think about the financial health of universities, “Students back bailouts: Students’ views on the financial health of universities”. The survey of over 1,000 full-time


undergraduate students, undertaken for HEPI by the polling company YouthSight, shows: • most students (83%) are confident their own institution is in a strong financial position;


• over three-quarters of students (77%) believe government should step in if their university were threatened with closure;


• more than half of students (51%) think fees should be refunded in the event of their university closing, while only one-third (32%) back merger with another institution;


• nearly all students (97%) want to know if their university is in financial difficulty – in contrast with current practice which hides financial problems from students;


• most students (84%) say they would have been less likely to have applied to


their university if they had known it was in financial difficulty; and


• the overwhelming majority of students (89%) do not know what Student Protection Plans are, while even more have not seen their own university’s Plan (93%).


Rachel Hewitt, HEPI’s Director of Policy and Advocacy, said: “This research shows a worrying mismatch between students’ views of what should happen to a university in financial difficulty and the proposed action by the Office for Students. Despite the refusal of Ministers to countenance the idea, 77% of students want government bailouts for failing institutions. “While there are legitimate reasons not to make public the names of those universities that are facing financial difficulties, students are very keen to have this information. However, should failing institutions be named, it would have a significant impact on recruitment at these institutions – 84% of students say they could be less likely to apply to a university in financial difficulty.”


Nick Hillman, Director of HEPI, said: “The rumours of a small number of universities being in financial difficulty are too persistent to ignore. No UK university has ever gone bust. So it would be a major scandal if it were to happen. “It remains implausible that any large university would just be allowed to shut up shop because of the harm this would cause to students, staff and the local area. Moreover, taxpayers have built up our university system so have a vested interest in ensuring their contributions have not gone to waste.”


• The University of Surrey has offered voluntary redundancy to all staff in order to help it achieve cuts of £15m. Vice chancellor Max Lu said universities faced “unprecedented pressures”, including Brexit and a possible reduction in tuition fees. He said: “Some of the main financial challenges include reduced income due to Brexit and an ever more competitive student recruitment environment, significantly increasing pension costs and a national review of tuition fee levels.”


CUBO focuses on student living experience


COLLEGE and University Business Officers (CUBO), which covers all aspects of university management including Accommodation, Food & Hospitality, Conferencing, Security and Facilities is launching a major research initiative that will focus strongly on the student living and residential experience, with a view to highlighting trends, delivering valued insights and exploring best practice to


support member’ learning and value add across CUBO’s 300-strong university membership.


CUBO non-executive director Julie Barker said: “Never has the campus experience been more important for students – it has changed dramatically in the last decade, in line with changing demographics and student needs. And, today universities will be looking at how


they invest in the infrastructure and services of the future, to maintain, and build, on the UK’s reputation as providing some of the best higher education facilities in the World. “We believe our Campus Experience Survey will be a key benchmark in aiding knowledge and insight and look forward to publishing the outputs later in the year”.


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