Brussels, 11/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European University Association (EUA) has just published a report assessing the effect of the economic crisis on higher education in Europe. Since 2008, the EUA has published a series of short reports on the situation in universities and higher education establishments since the onset of the crisis. This latest update report comes ahead of the publication, on 22 February, of a major study on the financial feasibility of higher education in Europe.
The report highlights that the economic crisis continues to affect higher education in several ways. Funding has not only been decreased in a number of European countries, but often public authorities are also reviewing the way the funding is actually delivered to universities. It demonstrates that the effects of the crisis have been very different and have come at very different times. Some countries, such as the United Kingdom, Italy and Latvia, face major cuts to higher education budgets, while, in others, such as Ireland, Iceland, Romania and Lithuania, higher education establishments will have to adapt to falls in income imposed by their public authorities. Only in a few countries, like France, Norway and the northern countries in general have governments upheld their commitment to increase public funding for universities. The experts, unfortunately, do not view the coming months, and even years, with great optimism, with the crisis still making itself felt and the fear of further budget cuts. Several governments have adopted austerity measures to balance their deficit, and the consequences of such moves remain to be seen. In some countries, cuts are likely to have a significant restructuring effect on higher education systems. In England, a major shift is underway from direct funding to institutions towards indirect funding through student support, coupled with higher tuition fees and reduced teaching grants. In Italy, in addition to an expected €1 billion budget cut, funds will be made increasingly conditional on student employability and research performance. One of the main findings of the analysis of how reduced public funding has been allocated across university missions is that, in most cases, teaching has been affected more than research, largely as a result of cuts in teaching staff. At a time when the number of students is on the increase, this is a serious problem. The growing demand from public authorities for justification for the allocation of funding has had a negative impact on the independence of universities and has limited their capacity to allocate their funds as they see fit. (I.L./transl.rt)