The University of Hull: What is a university? An evolutionary anthropologist’s perspective on the economics of higher education in the UK

In a letter sent to undergraduate chemistry students on 7 August, the dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the University of Hull, Dirk Schaefer, said that one proposal was to stop offering chemistry courses “from the academic year 2025–26”. Further letters from David Petley, Hull’s vice-chancellor, say the university needs to save £23 million over two years across its departments. Nature understands that one option under consideration is to stop all chemistry courses at the end of July 2025 entirely and offer to transfer students, “perhaps with compensation”.

The UK government faces a mountain of problems: prisons are overflowing, the National Health Service is in serious trouble and the economy is barely growing. Why should a struggling university be supported by the government when the citizens of the UK don’t like to see public money used for bad things? One alternative being discussed is to allow universities to increase student fees, in exchange for them agreeing to limit international students. That could be the worst of all worlds: it would confirm that the United Kingdom is less welcoming to people from other countries, and subsequent generations of home students would be punished with ever-increasing fees.

Not all UK universities are suffering the same. Older, world-renowned ones, such as the 24 members of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities, are comparatively less at risk, because they have enough longevity and reputation to both secure credit and attract students from abroad, who pay higher fees than home students.

Thousands of jobs are going to be lost if there isn’t a solution.

Hillman remains sceptical that the government would allow an institute to go under. In the recent past politicians have stated that large multi-faculty universities should not fold, but I don’t think that’s possible because they are too important to the area.

Many feel universities should not be run in a way that makes them compete. Wheeler said it came down to one question: what is a university? “Is a university something that’s there to make profit, and do we only offer courses of study that are profitable, or is there a value to courses of study for subjects that benefit society as a whole and should be subsidized?”

Other academics are more critical of how senior leadership at their institutions has handled the economic circumstances. Brandon Wheeler, an evolutionary anthropologist who was made redundant by the University of Kent last month, said he had been unhappy with university management for a long time.

Despite it’s strong reputation and league table position, the chemistry department has been trying to put on a more sustainable footing for a number of years. Chemistry is taught in many programmes, for example chemical engineering, biochemistry and medicine. The university offers a medical degree with the University of York.

But Thomas also lists advantages as student numbers dwindled. “The fact that it was so close knit meant that you did get the best out of your degree,” she says. I talk to people who have more than 300 people in their degree. Asking a question to get the lecturer to pay attention was not an option. With such a close-knit cohort you had that help right there.”

There are many financial challenges that the University of Kent faces, including the fixed tuition fee, high inflation and changes in student behavior. Although we put into action plans to address this and have improved our budget forecast since initial cautious projections earlier in the year, it was reflected in our 2022–23 accounts. The university is already phasing out some courses on the basis of expected student demand, but will continue to offer a mix of subjects across science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines, the spokesperson adds.

Wheeler, who is now at the University of Roehampton, London, says that Kent has wavered for years between cutting the anthropology programme entirely and letting it continue. “Confidence in university management is something that’s been completely lacking both from academic- and professional-services staff at Kent,” he adds.

When students go to their first day of classes, they are going to have more than a sense of trepidation due to the fact they are walking down a road with no previous knowledge of chemistry.

A second-year PhD student at the department,Frances Longbottom, says she was getting excited about her project when she decided on it. “Now it’s all uncertain.”

70% of higher- education providers in the United Kingdom have announced proposed restructures or redundancies because of economical circumstances, according to data collected by the University and College Union.

“Somebody once said, ‘The way to have a great city is to build a university then wait 200 years,’” says Nick Hillman, who runs the Higher Education Policy Institute, a think tank in Oxford, UK. Hull has a university that is more valuable than it would be if it weren’t there. In terms of bringing income into the town by supplying workers to local businesses.

A bankruptcy would be a disaster. The first in their family to receive higher education is more likely to go to the Russell Group universities than the universities most at risk.

UK universities on the brink as funding crisis deepens: Inflationary pressures and migration to low- and middle-income countries

Inflationary pressures have taken their toll. Years of plenty were seen at the beginning, followed by years of drift. “And once inflation hit 10% [in July 2022] then it was more than a drift: it was a really significant cut.”

The cap on student numbers was removed in the summer of 2014, further squeezing some universities. Now institutions are allowed to accept more students than they want.

Larger universities in major cities have attracted more undergraduates, leaving smaller institutions to compete for a shrinking pool of students (see ‘Undergrad movements’). But some have bucked the trend.

Some UK universities planned to address a fall in European students after Brexit by attracting researchers from low- and middle-income countries, such as India and Nigeria. The number of students from India increased fivefold, and that of Nigerian students tripled.

The law change in January makes it impossible for students from those countries to bring dependants with them. The number of visas granted to Indian students decreased by 23% and the number of visas granted to Nigerian students fell by half over the course of a year.

Source: UK university departments on the brink as higher-education funding crisis deepens

The University of Essex has made a big difference: Funding for a UK university doesn’t need to be that way: The case of China

The staff of the University of Essex were warned of the risk of a shortfall in income in March. Tom Cameron, a professor of applied ecology there, lists the protective measures the institution has brought in. “We put a halt to promotions, we put a halt to bonus payments. We stopped many external recruitment for certain positions. All of this may be frustrating, but collectively, it means you and your colleagues have jobs. I view that very positively,” he says.

Kent said in March it had reset its debt repayments and would make the next repayment in March of 2026, after announcing an operating-budget shortfall of $32 million.

Other countries show that it doesn’t need to be this way. Higher- education funding is one of the areas where European governments spend a lot of money. Students have to pay a small charge to cover the costs of a degree. Government scholarships are also available in many countries. China, which has the world’s largest higher-education sector, with more than half of its secondary-school graduates enrolling in tertiary education, operates on a similar model. Public universities in the United States charges tuition, but receive some funding from their state governments.