UK: University cuts 'send wrong message on economy'

Paul Marshall, head of the 1994 Group of research universities, which includes Durham, York and St Andrews, said slashing £940 million (US$1.5 billion) from higher education funding by July 2012 will send out "exactly the wrong message" on the economy, writes Nick Collins for The Telegraph.

The spending programme includes £342 million of cutbacks to the teaching budget, a £45 million hit to research budgets, a £309 million reduction in capital funding and further cuts to other grants. Marshall said: "It is our view that the government needs to respond extremely quickly with a positive strategy for growth, or there is a serious chance that a domino effect starts which is extremely difficult to stop."

The measures were published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) as the government attempts to make a £3 billion reduction to the higher education budget by 2015. The cuts, described by Hefce chief executive Sir Alan Langlands as "a challenging financial settlement", are expected to put an increasing strain on universities struggling to cope with rising applications at a time of limited places.
Full report on The Telegraph site