The U.K. election and the implications for higher education

By Tony Bates. What does this mean for higher education in the U.K.? Times Higher Education has offered the following analysis:

•     the Conservatives are committed to a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU by 2017. If Britain pulls out, UK universities will miss out on the current £1.2 billion ($2.15 billion) in research grants they currently receive from the EU;
•     the Conservatives are likely to raise the current £9000 ($16,000) annual university tuition fees even further;
•     tighter immigration policies will result in fewer international students;
•     a likely move to funding by results, in terms of (so far undefined) quality, which probably means more funding to Oxford, Cambridge and a few other elite UK universities, and less for the rest
•     continued funding support for ‘world-leading science’. More...