LinkedIn Top Higher Education Voice, publisher of International Employability Insight (IEI) & founder of Asia Careers Group SDN BHD
Dr. Richard Knapp arguing in favour of “lean” universities “recently worked on a #university transformation project that had a larger budget than the entire #university that he worked at for the first 24 years of his #career. Granted it was for a bigger university, but the budget was not proportionate to the level of benefit that was being promised to #students. I was depressed by the level of money being thrown at a project whilst the university could not timetable advertised #courses or give students their full #degree marks several weeks after #exam boards because of obsolete systems. This is the opposite to the lean approach, but it has been characteristic of my experience in the seven #highereducation organisations I have worked in since I left my original ‘lean’ institution. This experience has always been accompanied by the presence of large numbers of #consultants from external companies, usually one of the big four auditors, offering business insight at great expense to universities … In at least one case an expensive management review process ended with a presentation from one of the big four companies in which the name of a previous university that had been given identical advice was still on the presentation. This would be frustrating enough if it had only led to a loss of resources that could have been better spent on #teaching staff, #resources for students, or reduced costs for student #tuition & living expenses over the last 12 years. But it is worse than frustrating, because these wasted resources have resulted in ongoing #redundancies in #academic staff alongside a growing chorus of calls to raise the fee which means more debt for students in the #future with fewer staff to #teach them. To focus the university funding debate on the frozen fee level & the risks to overseas #studentrecruitment is, in my view, to avoid the obvious question that no one in #highereducation seems to want to ask: What happened to all the extra money that came into the sector with the introduction of the £9250 fee in 2012? [We would add significantly more than £2.4 billion in increased international student tuition revenue, with the number of #internationalstudents increasing from 580,000 to 750,000+ between 2019 & 2022] Where did [all that money] go? If we ignore this question & do not address failures in the financial management of universities, then the crises we face now will simply come back, & no short-term injection of cash, even if it was to come, would solve that. Universities need to learn to become lean in their management approach & work with those who offer low-cost, innovative solutions to enhancing their business model.” Asia Careers Group SDN BHD - Investing in International Futures AGCAS British Council BUILA Department for Business and Trade Department for Education Higher Education Policy Institute Jisc Office for Students UCAS UKCISA Universities UK Universities UK International
Louise Nicol
3mo
BREAKING NEWS - we know it’s the Daily Mail, but first broken in The Times. Let’s not forget that while #English universities have lost ‘£3 billion real income’ in three years, they have in fact gained significantly more than £2.4 billion in increased #internationalstudent tuition, with the number of #internationalstudents increasing from 580,000 to 740,000 over the same period. We agree with Professor Tim Leunig, The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) that it is “time to accept that employers benefit from a better #educated workforce. They too should play a part in covering the costs,” but think blanket increases in NI contributions are a pretty blunt instrument. See our article in Wonkhe “Students costs or assets.” What we know for sure is that Universities UK has got it wrong suggesting the UK should be reducing International #studentrecruitment, a valuable source of #diversity & revenue for UK institutions, not to mention a means of building UK #softpower. “Labour to hike #university tuition fees to £10,500 despite previous pledge to scrap them altogether - amid fears the current system is 'unsustainable’” Asia Careers Group SDN BHD
Louise Nicol
3mo
We think Universities UK has got this wrong the UK should not be reducing International #studentrecruitment, a valuable source of #diversity & revenue for UK institutions, not to mention a means of building UK #softpower. There is no issue #recruiting more international students with the caveat that all universities that #recruit overseas, should support their international students transition to successful #careers back in their home countries on completion of their UK #degree. This is only possible if they have access to robust representative Non-EU #graduateoutcomes data, subscribe to International #Education Insight Once caps start they keep on coming! First the #Canadian government imposed 20% reduction for 2024 & another 10% for 2025! UK “#universities will offer to curb the rise in #overseasstudents in return for greater stability & the chance to increase #tuition fees, as part of a plea for the government to ease the sector’s growing financial crisis. Vivienne Stern, #UUK said the sector needed to think about the impact of international students & take into account potential flashpoints such as availability of rental accommodation & what support universities provide when increasing student intakes.” Asia Careers Group SDN BHD
A two year standard degree would save everyone a lot of money! Great article though first class
LinkedIn Top Higher Education Voice, publisher of International Employability Insight (IEI) & founder of Asia Careers Group SDN BHD
3moWhat if students were seen as assets & not costs! Looking to the future, how universities are funded needs to change. It is highly unlikely any more funding will be forthcoming from the government, with many demands on the public purse & universities at the bottom of the list when it comes to priorities. It is hard to argue that compulsory #education & health should not be prioritised over #highereducation post-pandemic, with #highered having received that windfall in overseas revenue over the last three years… What if we shifted the narrative? Far too often students are referred to by the public, government, & even universities themselves as a cost – the cost of teaching them! We could instead see students as a #university “asset” not a cost. If universities are to fulfil their social contract, there should be a direct link between those graduating from university progressing into employment, raising productivity, & therefore driving economic growth. In truth universities should be seen as economic growth engines, not education cost centres. If universities were funded differently & students were considered an asset not a cost, huge revenue opportunities open up, read our headline article in Wonkhe. Asia Careers Group SDN BHD