Coronavirus: Universities call for state aid with income set to plunge
The UK’s universities have written to the government to request financial assistance as they brace for an estimated £800m drop in income this academic year.
In an open letter sent to the chancellor and the education secretary, sector body Universities UK warned that higher education establishments could lose as much as £7bn in international student fees next year.
Without intervention from the state, the letter warned, some institutions would likely face financial failure, or be forced to reduce research spending or provision for students.
A fall in research funding could affect the UK’s status as a world leader for in the sector, whilst a fall in highly skilled graduates in fields such as medicine and engineering could put further strain on stretched services.
In an attached paper, the body proposed a number of measures to protect universities, including additional state support for research and another year’s extension in UK tuition levels as well as visa waivers for EU students.
Sign up to City PM’s Midday Update newsletter, delivered to your inbox every lunchtime
Universities UK chief executive Alastair Jarvis said: “The package of measures we have proposed today will support universities across all four nations of the UK to ensure that they remain able to weather the very serious financial challenges posed by Covid-19.
“It will help to protect the student interest, to maintain research capacity, to prevent institutions failing and maintain the capacity to play a central role in the recovery of the economy and communities following the crisis.
“Universities have already made a huge contribution to the national effort to fight Covid-19 and moving forward will act collectively and responsibly to promote sector-wide financial stability in these challenging times and help the country to get back on its feet and people to rebuild their lives.”
The letter also commits the UK’s universities to do as much as they can themselves to reduce costs.
In total, the UK’s universities generate more than £95bn for the economy and over 940,000 full-time equivalent jobs.