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- Hello everyone! I’m Ms. Jin. Today, I’d like to invite you to join me and my three six-year-old students to explore a big question: Can public investment be a good way to solve the current financial crisis in UK universities?
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- 1. Background
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- We spending is increasing too high, but what we earned are constant
- up up up
- They haven’t gone up for years (9000 pounds max) , but prices and wages keep rising. [1] Plus, the government gives less money now, so universities just don’t have enough. [2]
- Yeah, it’s true. Many universities can barely keep going.
- There’s so much news about UK universities running out of money. Is it really that bad?
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- Why did we admit so many international students this year?
- Are things better in other countries?
- Because their tuition fees are a major source of income for us.
- Yeah, I’ve read about the U.S. too, many families there are struggling with high tuition costs.[4]
- So it’s not just a UK problem.
- Many countries are struggling to fund higher education. [3] The UK now relies heavily on international students’ tuition fees. If fewer of them come because of visa changes or a weaker global economy, universities immediately feel the pressure. That’s why we need to think about public investment, to make education more stable instead of depending only on the market. [5]
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- 2. What is public investment
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- Public investment means the government using funds, often through specialized agencies, to support key areas of long-term growth, such as innovation, clean energy, housing, and education.It’s not the same as ordinary spending: it targets market gaps and long-term goals, creating assets that drive economic and social development.[15]
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- After World War 2, the UK government owned major industries and led large public projects.In the 1980s, privatisation reduced the scale of public investment, shifting power to private capital.After the 2008 crisis, the government rebuilt investment through specialized agencies like the British Business Bank and Innovate UK, focusing again on innovation, regional balance, and net-zero goals. However, the UK’s level of public investment remains lower than that of most other developed countries.[15]
- So what is the history of Public Investment in the UK?
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- 2. Why is public investment
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- Yeah! Public investment really works!
- Look! We finally have new projectors and smart boards!
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- "I only want invest in London for more benefit!"
- Does this mean private investment is “wrong”
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- Investment
- Public investment is investing in every one of us!
- It sounds like an important solution to the financial crisis.
- Does that mean public investment genuinely prioritise the public interest above all else?
- Plan
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- 3. How public investment work?
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- But aren’t tuition fees already super high?
- Prioritize high-quality research investments, allowing universities to participate in high-risk, high return research. [8]When the government gives money to universities, universities can do better research, build new labs, and work with companies.They can also invent new things and earn more money, it’s like a good circle that keeps growing! However, research takes a long time. You can’t finish it in just one or two years, so universities need long-term funding. In the UK, this kind of support is called Quality-Related funding, or QR funding.
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- It’s money the government provides based on a university’s past research quality and track record. The goal is to give long-term funding, making universities plan their research for the future.[8]
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- For example, the development of the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca is a prime example of public investment and research collaboration[9].Public and charitable funding made up around 97–99% of the vaccine’s research base, showing how essential long-term public investment can be when high-risk research is involved[10]. Government funding allowed universities to take big risks, achieve a scientific breakthrough, and ultimately save millions of lives[11].
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- What is a more stable source of funding? And beyond QR and tuition, what else can diversify risk?
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- The government can support degree apprenticeships, knowledge transfer to small businesses, and community projects. It can also fund international research programs so universities can work with global partners and share ideas. But if we put all these efforts together, a sustainable model should include several parts: a stable Quality-Related (QR) funding base, cross-subsidy from international tuition, competitive and industry funding, and effective cost management.
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- The collaboration between the University of Birmingham and Rolls-Royce is a clear example of how public investment and industry partnership can work together[12].The university used stable, government-backed funding to establish the High Temperature Research Centre (HTRC), a £60 million facility focused on advanced manufacturing and materials research. The UK government contributed about £20 million through the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UK RPIF), matched by £40 million from Rolls-Royce[13].
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- Public investment provides universities with long-term, stable funding, unlike private investment which, being profit-driven, may withdraw when short-term returns are low.[6] Moreover, public investment can broaden access for students from diverse backgrounds; it also directs resources to institutions in disadvantaged areas, balancing resource distribution and enhancing local development.[7]
- 4. Critical thinking
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- No, but it can sometimes only effectively support well-established institutions. If public investment is not used as a solution, funding may become concentrated solely in major cities and the most sought-after schools.[7] This will result in the financial difficulties faced by other universities remaining unresolved
- Yeah, it is. However, this solution might face some challenges when put into practice.
- That sounds a bit complicated. What do you actually mean by that?
- It seems that public investment is indeed a good way to solve the current financial crisis in UK universities.
- What kind of challenges?
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- Yes, public investment is not simply about providing funds; it positions higher education to serve the entire society and safeguard long-term interests.[8]
- Let me explain the first point. The UK doesn’t have much money right now. In the past, many public assets were sold to private companies, so the government has less money to spend.The economy is also slower than before, so the government needs to save carefully. They might want to give more money to universities, but the truth is, the government itself is short of money.They need to fix roads, fund healthcare, and support the elderly, so there isn’t enough money for everything. That’s why giving more money to universities might not be very realistic.[14]
- We understand that, but we’re short of money ourselves.
- University really need more investment!
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- Got it!
- The UK government likes to spend money on things that show quick results，such as paying wages or giving benefits.That’s what we call short-term investment.But long-term investment, like building schools or funding research, takes many years to show any results.So they don’t really want to spend much money on that.[14]
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- Thanks for watching
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- QR funding? What’s that?
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- We can suggest that the government adopt a long-term, predictable, and sustainable funding investment model for higher education.
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- I’d say there are mainly two. First, the overall level of public investment in the UK is quite low. And second, the government tends to focus more on short-term rather than long-term.[14]
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