UK: Is the credit crunch good news for universities?

26 October 2008

With a dozen UK universities standing to lose £77 million (US$125 million) in collapsed Icelandic banks, the higher education sector appears, along with everyone else, to be facing an uncertain future, writes Anthea Lipsett in The Guardian. But could the global financial downturn in fact spell good fortune for UK universities?

The evidence from previous recessions is that business schools and universities tend to benefit. In a difficult recruitment situation, people take time out to embark on masters degrees to improve their CV and knowledge while they ride it out, says Jonathan Slack, chief executive of the Association of Business Schools, or ABS.

Business and management is the most popular subject at degree level and is taken in some form by one in seven students. The findings of a survey by ABS show undergraduate demand from home and EU students for business school courses is up, particularly MBA courses and particularly full-time MBAs.
Full report on The Guardian site

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