Financement de l'enseignement supérieur
Eurydice publie un rapport intitulé « Financement de l'éducation en Europe 2000-2012: l'impact de la crise économique ». Selon l’étude, près de la moitié des 28 pays étudiés ont réduit la part de leurs budgets dédié à l’enseignement supérieur et à la formation tout au long de la vie en 2011. Les baisses les plus importantes ont été réalisées en Slovaquie, en République Tchèque, en Irlande, en Italie, au Royaume-Uni (Irlande du Nord) et en Islande.
En savoir + > Funding of Education in Europe.
High quality education and training are essential if Europe is to make a speedy recovery from the most severe economic and financial crisis for 50 years. Qualified people with the right skills can boost the European Union's economy by leading innovation and improving competitiveness. However, as a result of the financial and economic crisis, public finances in all Member States are under great pressure. Governments are seeking ways to reduce budget deficits and manage public debt without dismantling the foundations of sustainable growth. While no direct link can be established between the level of funding of the education systems and student's learning outcomes, there is a general understanding that investing in high quality education and training should continue to be a priority. Nevertheless, the sector is not immune to austerity measures, particularly in countries where the need for short-term fiscal consolidation is greatest.
This report looks at the trends in education spending over the period 2000-2012 and examines the recent impact that the financial and economic crisis has had on education budgets across Europe in 2011 and 2012. The analysis covers the developments in education funding from pre-primary to tertiary level, while also providing an overview of the main trends in the adult learning sector. As Eurostat data on expenditure in education for 2011 and 2012 will not be available before mid-2013, for these years the report uses information from national education budgets. Education budgets adopted by national authorities can be seen as a reliable proxy of education spending in the respective years and provide a key to understanding the political priorities for the sector.
The comparative analysis is arranged in five chapters, two chapters deal with the overall changes in education funding and three thematic chapters assess the impact of the downturn on three of the pillars of the education system, namely, human resources, education infrastructure and financial support for students. In each chapter, the appraisal of the more recent changes in funding and policy priorities is based on information collected from the Eurydice Network. This analysis is accompanied by a view of the longer term trends based on statistical data available from Eurostat. The main findings of the report are explained in an executive summary following this introduction.
The first chapter presents the economic context in which European countries have been managing their public finances. It looks at Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and growth rates over the last decade as well as at levels of public debt in Europe since 2007. This general overview provides the financial framework in which recent education policies have been developed.
The second chapter provides an in depth analysis of the changes in actual public expenditure on education and the developments in national education budgets. The first section shows the trends in public expenditure over the last decade both as a share of total public expenditure and in comparison with national GDP; the cost per student is also examined. In the second section of this chapter, the most recent changes in education budgets for 2011 and 2012 are discussed; examining the proposed spending at different levels of education and the budgets allocated to various categories of expenditure. The spending priorities defined by countries for 2013 are also considered in the last section of the chapter.
Chapter three analyses the trends in the funding of human resources - the largest category of expenditure in all European countries. Firstly, the changes in the numbers of teachers are compared with the changes in student populations to provide an indication of whether such changes were affected only by the demographic evolution or the economic downturn has also affected human resource costs. Secondly, the changes to teachers' statutory salaries and allowances in 2011 and 2012 are presented, explaining the different national policies in this area. In the last section of this chapter, the funding for continuing professional development (CPD) is analysed, as this provision is important for the development of the professional skills of the work force.
Chapter four examines the recent mergers and school closures and assesses the degree to which they are related to the crisis. In addition, the budgets for educational infrastructure and for specific programmes of educational support are analysed. Although these categories of spending represent only a small share of the total public resources invested, they can have an impact on the quality of education provided. As local authorities and/or institutions have a degree of autonomy in managing these resources, any information provided on the extent of the reforms to infrastructure spending between 2010 and 2012 does not necessarily reflect a complete picture.
Finally, in chapter five, the latest trends in funding and changes to national policies for the financial support of students are examined. The budget allocated to such support is one of the key elements in ensuring high levels of participation in education, especially for disadvantaged groups of students. These support systems, however, are likely to come under pressure as a result of the possible reductions in the available public funding and the increased demand for contributions from private sources, especially in tertiary education.

Delegates at Changing the Learning Landscape events will have opportunities to bid for small grants for projects that lead to embedding learning technologies.
Changing the Learning Landscape (CLL) aims to bring about changes in approaches to technology in learning and teaching within higher education institutions.
As part of CLL, the HEA is running a number of free one-day CPD workshops to provide a practical introduction to the use of learning technologies for HE staff.
Up to £5,000 of funding will be available at each event. Individual attendees will be invited to bid for between £500 and £2,500 to help them fund small-scale projects to embed the use of technology within their institutions.
The workshops are running until 29 May 2013 at venues across the country. Some are designed to suit academic staff and some are aimed at staff with curriculum and teaching development and support roles. Themes of the events include social media, mobile learning and digital literacies.
CLL is a HEFCE funded project being run collaboratively between Jisc, the National Union of Students (NUS), the Association for Learning Technology (ALT), the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education and the HEA.
For more information please visit the CLL pages of the HEA website.

In the year before the introduction of the new funding arrangements for higher education in England, the sector overall was in a sound financial position, and will remain so in 2012-13. However, 2011-12 saw the first real-terms reduction in total income on record, and forecasts for 2012-13 suggest that the sector will see a sharp fall in surpluses.
These findings are part of a review of universities and college finances published today by HEFCE (note 1).
The sector recorded good cash balances and healthy reserve levels, and an operating surplus of 4.2 per cent in 2011-12 compared to a surplus of 4.6 per cent in 2010-11. This was an improvement on earlier projections, and indicates that the sector has maintained its track record of making year-on-year efficiency savings. The most significant savings related to staff costs, which fell in real terms for a second consecutive year.
‘Financial health of the higher education sector: 2011-12 results and 2012-13 forecasts’ is available on the HEFCE web-site.