Finance

As the year ends, the problems facing universities seem to be stacking ever higher. But will a general election next year bring any respite?

Medicaid spending commitments are driving cuts in appropriations for public universities, say F. King Alexander and Stephen Katsinas

War has helped to fan inflation and wither universities’ resources. With scant prospect of let-up, all eyes are watching the horizon for hopeful signs

Frozen fee levels must rise eventually, but universities need to deliver efficiency gains through hybrid learning, says David Willetts

Flawed assumptions about how universities and statisticians would react to the trebling of fees are behind today’s retrogressive steps, says Aaron Porter

Adapting and adopting US approaches to commercialisation offer an opportunity for the UK, says Chris Loryman

Despite the pandemic, trade disputes and geopolitical tensions, several factors will continue to push and pull Chinese students abroad, says Nicolas Chu

The financial effects of Covid may cause disadvantaged college applicants to panic, unclear how to apply for aid or too ashamed to do so, says Amy Glynn

Scrutiny of graduate outcomes is appropriate but the issue is much more complex than arts v science, says Anna Vignoles

The UK government’s £300 million funding pledge must be confirmed in the spending review, and departmental closures must stop, says Jon Keating

As COP26 looms, universities’ vital place in the UK’s environmental armoury must be recognised in the spending review, says Judith Petts 

A more liberal visa regime could also help fill skills gaps as Australia looks to recover from the pandemic, says James Cauchy

Institutions need to do all they can to stay visible and be ready to welcome students back when borders reopen, says Stephen Connelly

Universities typically generate much more income from industry contracts than from spinning out companies, says Calum Drummond

Amid languishing quality, introducing what could be a more expensive curriculum to deliver may not boost employability, says Pushkar

The EU’s massive cash injection with double Italy’s languishing higher education budget, says Ferruccio Resta

Awareness campaigns and reconfigured assessments are key to reining in cheating, says Ashley Norris

Educators now accept that digital tools are neither inapplicable to educational settings nor incompatible with sector values, says Jo Johnson

The narrative that the humanities are haemorrhaging students, funding and political favour is deeply felt around the world. But the evidence of the disciplines’ decline is considerably more nuanced, finds Simon Baker

But journals’ open access fees are suddenly increasing researchers’ need for funding, says Adrian Furnham

Any savings on the student loan book will be dwarfed by the costs of making retraining harder, says Jo Johnson 

Shutting off the talent pipeline into the creative industries risks the UK’s reputation for creativity and its potential for growth, says Anne Carlisle

A one-time fix via executive order – which could be overturned by the next administration – fails both future students and taxpayers, says Avery Davis

With a vast youth population but relatively low participation rates, higher education in the Asean region looks ripe for expansion. But can challenges over funding, quality and regional cooperation be overcome? Joyce Lau reports 

Perhaps, says Duncan Angwin – but probably not with an institution of similar size and standing, and not without long-term staff buy-in

Making campuses sustainable will help limit future climate change but won’t protect against current threats, say Frank Fernandez and Hilary Coulson

With wealth and donations becoming concentrated in ever fewer, ever more influential hands, and with some institutions languishing while the elite flourish, Paul Basken asks whether it is time for American colleges and universities to start biting the hand that feeds   

A decline in admissions standards suggests that foreign outposts will have to up their marketing game, says Hongqing Yang

Action is clearly needed to shore up the USS, but the trustee needs to be more flexible, says Alistair Jarvis

A strategic rejection of digital instruction is akin to France’s short-sighted attempt to prevent invasion in the 1930s, says Robert Zaretsky

With overseas enrolments hitting the buffers during the pandemic, debate rages over whether higher education’s excessive reliance on this income stream is self-inflicted – and how universities can keep themselves on the financial rails in future. John Ross reports

As physical retail declines, universities can keep high streets vibrant by moving into vacated shops, says Matthew Andrews 

The shortfall will damage the UK’s reputation and halt projects that are making a real difference to communities worldwide, says Joanna Newman

The pandemic has exposed the limits that commercial models impose on libraries’ ability to facilitate access, says Gauthier Van Malderen

Trusting in the continuing power of prestige to open employers’ doors is a dangerous strategy, say Alejandro Caballero and Sean Gallagher

The brutal cost-cutting demanded by Covid-19 may finally see intercollegiate athletics cut down to size, says Bruce Svare

The pandemic has prompted dire predictions about international student enrolment at anglophone universities. But will those fears come to pass? Is there an alternative to standard international education? And how much do universities really spend on recruitment agents? Ellie Bothwell reports

Too many trustees misunderstand or forget their fiduciary responsibilities and become co-opted by institutional presidents, says James Koch

A global recession will accelerate the latest shift away from high-cost study destinations, say Janet Ilieva and David Pilsbury

Different university groupings should have strong, distinctive capabilities that address specific markets, says John H. Howard

Evidence shows that universities outside the golden triangle are among the best at creating successful companies, says Brian McCaul

Announced increases in hardship funding are not enough, while missed educational opportunities must be replaced, says Paul Blomfield

English universities are making huge efforts to support students through the pandemic, but the government must play its part, says Anthony Forster

When students can’t or won’t cross borders, universities can do it instead, says Wing Lam

A huge endowment could help draw the talent and capital to counterbalance the golden triangle, say Neil Lee and Javier Terrero Dávila

This week’s spending review could see commitments revisited and important policy documents released, predicts Nick Hillman

Rationalising online and in-person offerings and establishing mutually beneficial partnerships will be crucial, say Michael Braun and Scott Latham

The vast majority of university staff and students are hoping that Joe Biden’s predicted win comes to pass in next week’s presidential election. But with the nation’s finances reeling from Covid-19 and its political fabric fraying in the partisan tug of war, how much would really change, asks Paul Basken 

Supporting pure open access publishers can save money and help cement the transition to full open access, says Helen Dobson

The country’s deep belief in cooperation coexists with a quiet opportunism about recruitment and funding, say Tim Seidenschnur and Georg Krücken 

With the right visa offering, the UK could eat into the US’ market share, say Sanam Arora and Vignesh Karthik KR

The economics are murky but the damage that closing departments will do to universities’ missions is crystal clear, says Peter Tregear

The Netherlands’ cautious, common approach to teaching during the pandemic contrasts with the full reopenings planned by many UK and US universities. But what will students get out of it? And is even 20 per cent campus capacity sustainable? David Matthews travels to the Netherlands to talk to the key players

History reminds us that freedom of speech also implies the right to vocally object to and demonstrate against speakers, says Evan Smith

Ransomware victims must either line the pockets of criminals or face the financial penalties and PR disaster of a data breach, says Chris Cobb

The UK, in particular, could find itself gasping for breath by 2024 if it does not take the currents into account, warns Louise Nicol

Students from low-income backgrounds must not suffer from the unavoidable shortage of places, says David Katz

It makes no economic sense for job-retention schemes to postpone the inevitable, says Paul Oslington

Germany has tradition of student placements in firms and universities, but coronavirus lay-offs highlight lack of state support for living costs

Academics may wish we weren’t here, but burying heads in the sand about the depth of the deficit is no longer viable, says Bernard Casey