Government funding of university research at lowest proportion since 1900s

Sally Hunt is the general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU)

A report out this morning by the University and College Union (UCU) has revealed annual public spending on university teaching and research in England will fall to its lowest proportion in over a century, as a result of the government’s new higher education reforms.

As Graph 1 shows, 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. UCU 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.

Graph 1:

English-university-income-from-tuition-fees-and-government-funding
Our 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 when university was the preserve of the wealthiest.

We believe this research highlights a retreat from public investment in higher education in England and underlines how over the last 30 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 shrink to levels not seen since the 1900s. 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 the economy – why put that at risk by starving institutions of public funds and forcing students to foot the bill?

See also:

• Cameron is pricing the young out of education and consigning them to the dole queue – Sally Hunt, December 14th 2011

• University applications down 9 per cent on 2011 – Sally Hunt, October 24th 2011

• The marketised core of the government’s universities plan is rotten – David Barclay, June 7th 2011

• Coalition must reconsider privatisation of Higher Education before it’s too late – Sally Hunt, May 23rd 2011

• Willetts must learn from America’s mistakes over for-profit universities – Sally Hunt, May 6th 2011

http://twitter.com/patrickosgood/status/154888951029698560 Patrick Osgood

Government funding of university research at lowest proportion since 1900s, writes @UCU’s Sally Hunt: http://t.co/o8EkKZVe
http://twitter.com/nwhippiegoddess/status/154891500612894722 Annie

Government funding of university research at lowest proportion since 1900s, writes @UCU’s Sally Hunt: http://t.co/o8EkKZVe
http://twitter.com/politicalplanet/status/154893568027279361 Political Planet

Government funding of university research at lowest proportion since 1900s: Annual public spending on university… http://t.co/KtqihDV3
http://twitter.com/oilywaters/status/154896254265081857 H. O.

RT @leftfootfwd: Government funding of university research at lowest proportion since 1900s http://t.co/I7YomkR8
http://twitter.com/patronpress/status/154896825676070912 Patron Press – #P2

#UK : Government funding of university research at lowest proportion since 1900s http://t.co/tfEEkSyX
http://twitter.com/leftlinks/status/154897845776957440 leftlinks

Left Foot Forward – Government funding of university research at lowest proportion since 1900s http://t.co/JpSqMYow
http://twitter.com/annette2947/status/154916977503256576 Annette Carter

Government funding of university research at lowest proportion since 1900s: A report out this morning by the Uni… http://t.co/jCBvuFMG
http://twitter.com/jamiepotter/status/154918050393620480 Jamie Potter

RT @leftfootfwd: Government funding of university research at lowest proportion since 1900s http://t.co/Ek4ZNaBS
http://twitter.com/labour52rose/status/154925125366583296 Alex Braithwaite

RT @leftfootfwd: Government funding of university research at lowest proportion since 1900s http://t.co/nb23NDGD
http://twitter.com/hyweldjones/status/154966168447352832 Hywel

RT @leftfootfwd: #UK Government #funding of university #research at lowest proportion since 1900s http://t.co/ZfRGXHE0
http://twitter.com/palaeo_isotopes/status/154975368288280577 Dr Andrew Henderson

RT @leftfootfwd: Government funding of university research at lowest proportion since 1900s http://t.co/fPFSsT3O
http://twitter.com/yrotitna/status/154997060133847040 Yrotitna

Government funding of university research at lowest proportion since 1900s, writes @UCU’s Sally Hunt: http://t.co/o8EkKZVe
http://twitter.com/reddan88/status/155026353094275072 Daniel B

RT @leftfootfwd: Government funding of university research at lowest proportion since 1900s http://t.co/LSRk6A8s
http://twitter.com/dratarrant/status/155031728350691328 Anna Tarrant

sad “@palaeo_isotopes: RT @leftfootfwd: Government funding of university research at lowest proportion since 1900s http://t.co/bUwuAFGc”
http://twitter.com/joaovc/status/155037471896371200 Joao Vieira da Cunha

sad “@palaeo_isotopes: RT @leftfootfwd: Government funding of university research at lowest proportion since 1900s http://t.co/bUwuAFGc”
http://twitter.com/cameronking/status/155069424389468161 Cameron King

RT @leftfootfwd: Government funding of university research at lowest proportion since 1900s http://t.co/iJGTLKEu
Charles

Except that modern tuition fees are paid by the government.

I don’t pay my fees, the state owned student loan company pays them and adds them to my tab. The money will be reclaimed in the form of deductions from my payslip alongside tax if I ever earn a decent wage. The argument that this system is comparable to the 1890s and early 1900s is flawed: it’s essentially state funded through a graduate tax.
http://twitter.com/miguelescotet/status/155419521878994945 Miguel Angel Escotet

UK: Government funding of university research at lowest proportion since 1900s | #HigherEd – http://t.co/7vtipvTF
http://twitter.com/enguita/status/155430139390459904 Mariano Fdez Enguita

RT @MiguelEscotet: UK: Government funding of university research at lowest proportion since 1900s | #HigherEd – http://t.co/TtHdeCAZ
http://twitter.com/Newsbot9 Newsbot9

No, modern tuition fees are paid by the student. When this “reform” comes in, several times over for many students.

Moreover, the cash is necessary up-front. This already causes problems with loan delays, next year we can expect around a fifth of students to miss two weeks or so every time an instalment is due, causing havoc.

And fail them? Nope. Impossible.
http://twitter.com/modditydodds/status/155546214501326848 Knut Cayce

RT @leftfootfwd: Government #funding of #university research at lowest proportion since 1900s http://t.co/AbWr1rQ2 #UK
http://twitter.com/aharnettwrites/status/155775635166474241 Ashley Harnett

"Government funding of university research at lowest proportion since 1900s" http://t.co/SjAjW4Wc
http://twitter.com/chr1sr0berts/status/156516647002308608 Chris Roberts

Government funding of university research at lowest proportion since 1900s, writes @UCU’s Sally Hunt: http://t.co/o8EkKZVe
http://twitter.com/riprap007/status/156516798861283328 Nicholas Ripley

RT @leftfootfwd: Government funding of university research at lowest proportion since 1900s, writes @UCU’s Sally Hunt: http://t.co/a89CqVC2
http://twitter.com/cap_and_gown/status/156517090256363520 Tamson Pietsch

Government funding of university research at lowest proportion since 1900s, writes @UCU’s Sally Hunt: http://t.co/o8EkKZVe
http://twitter.com/cap_and_gown/status/156517298277072897 Tamson Pietsch

the most depressing graph i've seen in a long time http://t.co/4ROI87Eu
http://twitter.com/gwendabird/status/156523223440293888 Wendy McMahon

Government funding of university research at lowest proportion since 1900s, writes @UCU’s Sally Hunt: http://t.co/o8EkKZVe
http://twitter.com/witty_knitter/status/156535643592339456 Mary-Helen Ward

the most depressing graph i've seen in a long time http://t.co/4ROI87Eu
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2012/02/subject-choice-plummets-across-the-uk-as-the-government-fails-universities/ Subject choice plummets across the UK as the government fails universities | Left Foot Forward

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