Higher salaries and lower funds for universities in England

Morgan, J. (2011) HEFCE brings the pain: cuts this year and next Times Higher Education, February 3

Rowley, T. and Paton, G. Row over hile in university vice-chancellors’ pay The Telegraph, February 15

The English and Welsh universities will receive a total of 9.5% less for 2011-2012 than for the previous year, most of the cuts coming on the teaching side. The following year the universities will switch to funding for teaching based almost entirely on tuition fees, as the government withdraws from direct funding. By 2015, more than £3 billion ($4.5 billion) will have been cut from the higher education budget by Britain’s Conservative-Lib-Dem coalition.

Meanwhile: More than 950 university staff, including all vice-chancellors, were paid more than the Prime Minister – an eight per cent increase on the year before.

As the THE comments, “Will the last person to leave UK higher education please turn the lights off?” And no-one from the UK banks, who caused the economic crisis in Britain, has gone to prison. Indeed, this year the bank bosses are receiving record bonuses.

Thanks to J.R. Ellis, UK Open University, for directing me to this. Indeed, the UK Open University’s Cloudworks provides an excellent monthly e-learning digest that is worth following.