UK: Two English universities consider going private

03 July 2011

Two English universities are actively considering becoming private institutions, research suggests, writes Angela Harrison for BBC News. This would mean they would no longer get direct funding for research or teaching from the government.

The government has said it wants to open up the system to private providers of higher education. The two universities, which have not been named, took part in a survey of vice-chancellors by management consultants PA Consulting Group. The authors said the institutions are not part of the Russell Group, which represents some of the UK's leading universities.

They contacted the vice-chancellors of 165 universities and received responses from 65.
The authors say a "substantial minority" of institutions (just over 20 of those which responded) want to minimise their dependence on government-controlled activities.
Full report on the BBC News site

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