I am relatively new to the role of vice chancellor at the University of Wolverhampton and, like all UK university leaders, I am trying to make sense of the complex financial, policy and regulatory environment to develop a medium-term strategic response.
I recall a former vice chancellor of mine talking about the “perfect storm” for universities back in 2011. With the benefit of hindsight, that was more a gentle breeze when compared with the challenges faced by the university sector at present.
Like many of my vice chancellor colleagues I am concerned that tuition fees have hardly changed for over a decade, cost pressures on universities have increased significantly over the same period, and recruiting more international students to remain financially sustainable is under threat from a less than helpful policy environment.
It is a paradox that UK universities are engines of innovation and inclusive growth and central to the delivery of multiple government priorities, yet political resolve is lacking to address the current financial sustainability challenge. Though at present policy inertia would serve the university sector better than the type of policy interventions we are experiencing.
