11 June 2018

HE funding report draws on CGHE research

A new report calling for changes to the funding of higher education by the Economic Affairs Committee draws on research by CGHE academics.

The report, Treating Students Fairly: The Economics of Post-School Education, investigates issues including the growth of higher education, its economic benefits, the demands of the labour market, flexible learning, apprenticeships and student loan design.

In the report, CGHE Director Professor Simon Marginson argues that the UK has underfunded non-university education and has allowed secondary education with an emphasis on practical skills to erode.

He also describes the cross-subsidisation of teaching and research as a ‘complex problem’, highlighting the tendency “to find every way and means we can to subsidise and build research, because research is not only integral to the role of universities but has become central to their national and global competition’.

The report also draws on research by CGHE Deputy Director Professor Claire Callender highlighting the drop in part-time learners seeking qualifications below degree level.