This blog is prompted by a discussion at a recent meeting of the PASCAL Advisory Board.  Members identified a number of issues which pose real challenges to Higher Education Institutions in many parts of the world in coming years, especially those heavily dependent on public funding.  

Members drew attention to the changing policies and levels of public funding for higher education in many countries.  The European Universities Association has recently produced a report on the consequences of changing funding levels in Europe (see  my earlier blog ) In the USA, as many States build up large deficits and Federal stimulus programmes come to an end, publicly  universities and colleges face large reductions in funding.   Even in Australia where the effects of the global financial crisis have not been so pronounced, significantly reducing numbers of international students are adding funding pressure on top of the consistent reduction of public spending on universities over the last decade or so.

So whilst the context is important, it is possible to suggest a number likely of responses by public universities.  These will include:

• reducing student access;

• reductions to the costs and quality of teaching through use of lower level staff and fewer contact hours;

• more online teaching;

• rising tuition fees as costs are increasingly shifted to students;

• increasing dominance of so-called STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and medicine);

• changes to the distribution of international students;

• concentration on research;

• increasing focus on regional benefits.

There is also a  challenge within many universities arising from the demographic profile of staff which in many universities is weighted towards the higher age groups.  Recruitment strategies present an important opportunity for universities to re-shape what they do in coming years.

It was clear too, that even where reductions in public funding are less evident, there is a challenge to universities arising from government ideological agendas, and changing significance attached to values associated with universities as a public good,  and the role of 'public intellectuals' in universities.

It is likely that the future shape and character of universities will change in the coming years in the face of these pressures as universities opt to position themselves in different ways, as essentially research institutions, teaching institutions, or institutions focussed on meeting regional needs.

Implications for PASCAL

PASCAL International Observatory is of course closely involved with many of these issues, particularly through its programmes on regional engagement (PURE) and developing insitutional engagement capacity (PUMR).  There is a need for PASCAL to consider how it develops its work with universities and colleges in the light of these anticipated developments across the globe.

Please join the debate, both about the nature and response of higher education to the identified pressures, and to the contribution PASCAL might usefully seek to make in the coming years.