Commission The Higher Education Commission has spent the past nine months researching the financial sustainability of higher education in England. Throughout this time we have spoken to over 60 experts in higher education and finance, and held focus groups with students currently at university. 3
We discussed: What should be sustained in the current higher education system? What are the biggest threats to higher education in England? How can providers, the Government and others mitigate these threats? 4 5 Contents
Co-Chairs’ foreword 8 Executive Summary 10 Recommendations 14 1 Sustaining the system 16 1.1 Why sustain higher education? 16 1.2 Three things to sustain 20 2 Assessing the system: risks to financial sustainability 24 2.1 Student numbers 24 2.2 Students 36 2.3 Institutions 46 2.4 Government 53 3 What are the alternatives for funding higher education? 61 Contributors 76 Acronyms 79 What is the Higher Education Commission? 80 Secretariat 82 Supporters 83 Acknowledgements 84 6
We look at the system through the lens of students, institutions, and government, and analyse the risks in the system and present recommendations to mitigate such risks. There is no silver bullet solution to solve the funding problems facing English higher education. These challenges are complex and often ideological, requiring political judgment as well as evidence- based research. 7
In our report we make 16 recommendations to help safeguard the future sustainability of higher education in England. We also present six options on funding models, weighing up the advantages and disadvantages of each. Higher education makes a huge contribution to the well-being and economic prosperity of our nation and it is essential that it not only survives, but thrives. 8 Co-Chairs’ foreword
There has been no shortage of recent comment on the present state of higher education in England, including in the area chosen for this latest inquiry by the Higher Education all political parties are reticent about how they intend to safeguard and build on that
This inquiry has taken place before the full impact of the reforms to undergraduate institutions’ ability to recruit undergraduates unfettered by controls on numbers have