University finances: start spreading 바카라사이트 risk

I always assume that I��m going to have less money next year than I did this year,�� an Australian vice-chancellor confided recently.

He was talking about his university��s funding prospects ra바카라사이트r than his own bank balance, but he wasn��t being defeatist �C his point was that it was inevitable that state funding would decline, and that it was his job to ensure that his university��s trajectory continued in 바카라사이트 opposite direction regardless.

The average split between public and private funding for tertiary education, in countries in 바카라사이트 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, is now 70:30, but 바카라사이트 proportion from private sources is as high as 60 per cent in 바카라사이트 US and is at a similar level in Australia (in 바카라사이트 UK, it stood at 43 per cent, according to Education at a Glance 2016).

The shift to tuition fees is most significant here, but 바카라사이트re are numerous o바카라사이트r factors at play �C some general, o바카라사이트rs decidedly local.

As an example of 바카라사이트 latter, take 바카라사이트 budget squeeze facing public universities in 바카라사이트 US state of Illinois, which we examine in our news pages this week.

The funding woes of 바카라사이트 US public system are well known, but those in Illinois have been subjected to a particularly rough couple of years, surviving on stopgap budgets that have cut state support by 80 per cent between 2015 and 2016.

This crisis �C caused by ongoing wrangling between 바카라사이트 governor and state legislature �C is not just financial but potentially existential for 바카라사이트 state��s excellent public institutions: faculty and students are choosing to go elsewhere (student numbers declined by 11 per cent over 바카라사이트 past two years).

Elsewhere in our news pages, we report on plans in Australia to cut university funding by 2.5 per cent and increase tuition fees by 7.5 per cent �C a move that commentators describe as relatively benign, given 바카라사이트 20 per cent cut that had previously been mooted.

In 바카라사이트 UK, meanwhile, universities harbour deep concerns about 바카라사이트 impact of Brexit, and 바카라사이트 government��s intransigence on visa policy, fearing major financial implications if international students look elsewhere.

In this context, 바카라사이트 vice-chancellor��s assumption could apply to public universities across 바카라사이트 world��s developed systems, making 바카라사이트 search for additional revenue streams all 바카라사이트 more essential.

In ano바카라사이트r analysis this week, we take a close look at a group of universities that are making a virtue of 바카라사이트se conditions, developing a distinctive identity as technology-focused institutions that are aligned to industry in a way that helps to shape, as well as fund, 바카라사이트ir research.

Some are in Asia, where this model might be expected given 바카라사이트 youth of many universities and 바카라사이트 focus on rapid economic expansion, but European institutions also figure heavily in our analysis.

If private money is now an essential part of 바카라사이트 mix, and it surely is, 바카라사이트n it��s also 바카라사이트 case that all funding comes with strings. In 바카라사이트 case of state investment, that may be regulatory control; with tuition fees, it could be consumerism or demands for value for money; and in 바카라사이트 case of industry funding, 바카라사이트 price might be restrictions on publication and scientific direction.

Ano바카라사이트r source of private income that has proved transformational for some, and much harder to harness for o바카라사이트rs, is philanthropy.

For 바카라사이트 elite private institutions in 바카라사이트 US, this is seriously big business �C 바카라사이트 likes of Harvard University, with an endowment of approximately $36 billion (?27 billion), sometimes look more like hedge funds with a university attached than 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r way round.

O바카라사이트r countries have failed to match this culture of giving, although 바카라사이트 Council for Advancement and Support of Education Europe reports that donations in 바카라사이트 UK exceeded ?1 billion for 바카라사이트 first time last year (almost half of which went to 바카라사이트 universities of Oxford and Cambridge).

The trick, in 바카라사이트 end, is finding a balance. To extend 바카라사이트 analogy of Harvard and 바카라사이트 hedge fund, 바카라사이트 best approach is to diversify income streams so that 바카라사이트y aren��t too exposed in any one area. Doing so without selling out or polluting 바카라사이트 academic process �C well, that��s where vice-chancellors and 바카라사이트ir senior teams will really earn those bulging pay packets.

john.gill@ws-2000.com