Stakeholders discuss university funding futures 15 October 2014 University World News Global Edition Issue 339 More than 200 representatives from universities, national ministries, funding agencies, EU institutions and student bodies from more than 30 countries across Europe met earlier this month to consider university funding issues. More than 200 representatives from universities, national ministries, funding agencies, EU institutions and student bodies from more than 30 countries across Europe met earlier this month to consider university funding issues. Held at the University of Bergamo in Italy, this was the second funding forum for the European University Association, or EUA, the organisation representing universities and national rectors’ conferences in 47 European countries. The forum is described as a ‘high-level, strategic platform for all stakeholders, to monitor, debate and shape developments related to university funding’. This year’s funding focus was on ‘designing strategies for efficient funding of universities’ and those attending were presented with the results of two new EUA research projects related to higher education funding. Thomas Estermann, EUA director for governance, funding and public policy development, set out the findings of an ongoing study of the different ‘efficiency measures’ introduced by many national governments across Europe, notably as a response to the ongoing economic downturn. These include ‘performance-based’ funding, excellence schemes and mergers. EUA’s analysis, part of the DEFINE project on funding efficiency in higher education, is mapping the different measures in place in Europe and how they can affect university management and activities. After a panel session with university leaders to discuss Estermann’s findings, parallel sessions dealt in more depth with more specific issues such as the impact of austerity measures and the role of university leadership. As reported last week in University World News, the EUA also used the occasion to launch the 2014 edition of its Public Funding Observatory report , which monitors the evolution of public funding to higher education institutions in nearly 30 European countries. The report is expected to provide useful background to discussions focusing on European funding and the impact the new generation of EU programmes is having on participating universities, in particular with large funding schemes such as Horizon 2020 or the European Structural and Investment Funds. The report provides year-on-year details of the change in the level of public funding, as well as the long-term evolution since 2008, and the level of funding in relation to GDP and to the size of the student population. The findings show that although most university systems across the EU have had ‘consistent funding trajectories’ since 2008, there are notable exceptions in Portugal and Poland steady declines have been stopped and even reversed over recent years. “Comparing these long-term trends against the most recent year-on-year changes is also revealing; in Hungary, this year marks the first annual funding increase since the start of the Public Funding Observatory,” the report says. In terms of nominal funding, the report says public funding has been increasing in eight more systems and decreasing in five, with seven countries remaining within the +1% to -1% range. But applying a provisional inflation rate for 2014 extrapolated from an average of the first five months of the year showed that eight more systems had experienced a drop in funding while seven had enjoyed an increase, with only four remaining stable. “It is also evident that, in some systems, nominal stability represents a cut in real terms,” the report states. Among notable changes in funding, adjusted for inflation: Portugal experienced the greatest rise, increasing its budget for higher education institutions by just under 20%. This was the first increase since 2010, following three years of cuts. But the increase is intended to offset a rise in employment costs, arising from increased social security and pension costs faced by universities. Poland reports the second largest positive change in public funding recorded in this year’s Observatory report, with an increase of just less than 8%. This follows a rise of 5% in 2013. Hungary stopped the decline in university funding for the first time since the Observatory started collecting data in 2008, recording a small real-terms increase in funding of just over 1%. Lithuania recorded large cuts in university funding of nearly 10%. This represents the resumption of budget reductions following a temporary stabilisation in the level of funding in 2013. In the United Kingdom, the level of funding for higher education was cut by more than 10% for a third consecutive year, as England continues to transfer the cost burden for teaching activities to students via increased tuition fees. Ireland has experienced a similar series of cuts to the UK, with a real-term drop of just under10% in 2014 but with no increase in tuition fees to offset the fall in spending. Greece continues to cut back on higher education funding, with a drop of around 11% this year, following a 24% cut in 2013. These figures do not include staff costs, because university staff are civil servants, and as such are concerned by across-the-board cuts in the public service. The report says that research funding cuts were made in Slovenia (more than 10%), Spain, Greece (continuing last year’s trend) and Ireland. In Ireland, public authorities expect that universities will improve their performance by attracting funding under the new EU Framework Programme Horizon 2020 and thus partially offset decreases in public research funding. But it says the Irish Universities Association reports that ongoing cuts to research funding are already having a negative impact on their universities’ capacity to attract and retain top researchers and academics, which in turn will make it harder to win more European research funding. Conversely, Norwegian public authorities have provided extra research funding aimed at increasing the number of doctoral candidates. “Regarding teaching funding, the UK is on track to cut the teaching grant as a proportion of overall higher education funding from 64% in 2011-12 to a projected 17% in 2015-16, with this cost being transferred to students,” the report says. “It is to be noted that home and EU students in England have access to government-backed student loans which are repaid on an income-contingent basis, and which are subsidised in the sense that interest rates are directly linked to inflation and that the loans are written off after a certain time period. In fact, a recent report ordered by the House of Commons estimates that in the long term, 45% of the student loan book will not be recuperated by the government.” Funding for teaching has also been cut in Ireland – see Art Hauptman’s report in this edition. The Irish Universities’ Association reports that, in the context of decreasing public spending and increasing student numbers (up by 1.6%), teaching funding per student has fallen by 16% this year. In the Netherlands, while teaching funding has remained stable, the student population rose by 3.53% in 2013-14. The report says measures taken regarding staffing universities have a strong impact in a number of countries, with cuts in Croatia where there was a decrease in staff bonuses for length of service, while Spanish institutions face ongoing restrictions on staff recruitment imposed at the national level. Similarly, there is a restriction on the replacement of staff departures in Italy, with only 50% of positions permitted to be recruited again. In Ireland, pay cut and headcount reduction schemes have continued in 2014, with new entrants appointed at the lowest grade of a new and reduced pay scale. “This negatively affects the universities’ ability to attract and retain staff,” the report observes somewhat obviously. More positively, though, Austrian staff enjoyed a general 2% increase in salaries over a three-year funding cycle, while in Poland staff salaries have risen by 9% on average – the second consecutive year they have increased after several years of wage freezes. “University campuses continue to be subject to long-term funding cuts in some systems, with the impacts of these cuts highly visible in comparison to other areas,” the report states. “Infrastructure funding levels sustained significant reductions in Greece, Ireland and Spain. As part of a wider cut in public capital investment, universities in the United Kingdom also continue to receive less funding for infrastructure, with the cut for teaching infrastructure even greater than for research.” University World News universityworldnews/article.php?story=20141015213207627
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 07:00:01 +0000
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