I fell off my chair reading the New York Times this morning: "Universities in Britain Brace for Cuts in Subsidies"
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/16/world/europe/16britain.html
Excerpts include:
LONDON - For months, Britain's universities have warned in apocalyptic terms about the devastating cuts they face as part of the government's grand plan to reduce public-sector costs. Now, with the government poised next week to announce its spending plans, their worst fears seem about to come true.
Prof. Steve Smith, president of Universities U.K., which represents Britain's higher-learning institutions, said the government was likely to cut about 80 percent of the current $6.2 billion it pays annually for university teaching, and about $1.6 billion from the $6.4 billion it provides for research.
To make up for the shortfall, universities would have to raise tuition to an average of more than $11,000, Professor Smith said, and doing so would require Parliament to lift the cap on such fees, now set at $5,260.
....
Britain's universities, heavily subsidized by the state, already feel pared to the bone after a series of cuts in the past year or so. In anticipation of further cuts, many are beginning to lay off instructors, reduce the number of classes and shut down departments. Some instructors and researchers, dismayed by how little money they are being offered and worried about future financing, have abandoned Britain for more lucrative offers at universities abroad.
Adrian Owen, a renowned neuroscientist at the University of Cambridge and an expert on brain injury, announced recently that he and his team of five researchers were moving to the University of Western Ontario in Canada.
.....
Britain's universities currently get about $22.4 billion a year from the government. Until about 10 years ago, they charged no tuition. Tuition since then has been capped by law at $5,260 for students from the European Union. (Students from outside Europe pay much higher tuition that more accurately reflects the actual cost of their schooling.)
....
While institutions like Oxford or Cambridge can easily find students willing to pay, higher tuition would probably create problems for smaller, less respected or less research-intensive universities, or for those with poorer students, Mr. Cottrell said.
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He added, "I think they're cutting the university sector because they can, and I think that's terribly damaging for the future of the country."
Best regards,
Charles Wankel
St. John's University, New York
http://facpub.stjohns.edu/~wankelc
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