In an earlier blog, I summarised a discussion which took place in a recent meeting of the PASCAL Advisory Board about the challenges faced by publically funded universities in different parts of the world, and the likely consequences as publically funded university institutions come to terms with the emerging funding environment in which they find themselves. 

Since then, and so far as the UK is concerned, it is becoming clear that tuition fees sought by many institutions in England are likely to be at the top of the permitted range specified by the Government, bringing about an almost threefold rise in fees.  In Scotland, where higher education funding is for the most part devolved to the Scottish Government, events are following a rather different path, but one which is heavily influenced by events in England  (see my blog for Research Fortnight at http://exquisitelife.researchresearch.com/exquisite_life/2011/03/scotlan... ).

Late in 2010, the Scottish Government issued a Green Paper for discussion, which set out a range of issues, including funding, which should be addressed in order to enhance the contribution of higher education to the economic and social development of Scotland.  PASCAL, along with many other interested parties submitted a response to that document ( see   http://pascalobservatory.org/pascalnow/pascal-activities/news/pascal-res... ) .  Inter alia, the PASCAL response drew attention to the need to promote wider access,  to encourage greater flexibility in provision in order to make more of a reality of lifelong learning through the life course, and to encourage regional engagement of higher education institutions with the regions and communities in which they are located.   It would appear, at least from the  limited sample of responses from others to the consultation that I have seen, that these themes are emphasised by others too. 

The rise in English tuition fees has opened up a perceived funding gap between English and Scottish higher education institutions some put as high as £200 million and it seems inevitable that debates about the size and options for closing this funding gap will dominate the coming Scottish elections in May, at the expense of other ideas for strengthening the contribution of HE to the development of the Scottish economy and civic society .

Three of the four main political parties in Scotland look set to fight the election on policies of maintaining a tradition of free education in Scotland,  and opposed to up-front tuition fees or later graduate endowment.  In this case, it raises the intriguing question of what other programmes will be sacrificed by an in-coming Scottish Government to fill the funding gap,  and how far, in so doing, Government will seek to insist on other reforms in the scale, shape and scope of Higher education in Scotland.