Cross party solution needed to fix Higher Education funding problems

In 1978, when I started my degree in Economics at Edinburgh University, I recall my director of studies telling me that it was a privilege to be one of every ten young people who would be able to study at a higher education institution and, once he elaborated on the academic and social responsibilities which came with that privilege, he checked that I knew the matriculation procedures.

A few days later, matriculation documents in hand, I queued in Adam House in Edinburgh’s Chamber Street, to ensure that my name had been entered for the university student grant award. Soon, I had the necessary paperwork to allow me to access free higher education, much to my parents’ pleasure.

Of course it wasn’t free at all. The state was paying.

Those were the days when there were far fewer universities and far fewer undergraduates so the cost of higher education was not remotely equivalent to what it is today.

Now, the statistics about funding gaps are stark – so stark that the status quo just will not cut it. As Reform Scotland and many other academics and commentators have told us – and, to their credit, for quite some time – policies at both Westminster and Holyrood are having detrimental impacts on the likes of class teaching resources, on course availability and on research capability. Recent findings from the Institute of Fiscal Studies showed that funding for student per year of study has fallen by 19% in real terms since academic session 2013-14.

Yet despite all this, higher education funding has become a political football being kicked around for electoral reasons rather than for what is in the best interest of education. Far too many politicians have had their heads firmly in the sand for far too long, just hoping that the problem will go away.

Well, it won’t.

Which is why, throughout my time in Holyrood, I have consistently called for a cross-party, open and frank debate about the future of higher education funding. I want to see serious, cross party moves to arrive at a sustainable solution to address the concerns of our university principals who are, quite rightly, beside themselves with anxiety about what the future might hold for their own institutions. It is fair to say that for quite a bit of my 18 years as an MSP, I have been struggling against the prevailing wind (which has included some in my own party) but, now, as Alex Salmond’ rocks are well and truly melting in the sun, things are changing.

Indeed, I firmly believe my calls are gaining support across the party divide because no-one, of whatever political colour, can now argue that the current system is working.

As we all know, university education provides a shared benefit. There is a benefit to the individual undertaking a university course through the increased earning opportunities as well as those which provide intellectual enhancement, and there is the obvious benefit to the state from an economic perspective, most especially in terms of ensuring we have a highly skilled workforce. As such, it is perfectly reasonable to expect some sharing of the cost.  

The key question then is what is the right balance which neither places a huge debt burden on students nor expects the taxpayer to come up with all the funds which they can increasingly ill afford. That should be the basis for the debate and, in coming to a conclusion, we should always be mindful of the question “what is education for?”. As we answer that we will not arrive at the current funding arrangements.

Most university principals across the land believe that politicians are letting them down.

If it means an independent commission as some principals have suggested then that is what must happen and yes, that should also include addressing the student visa issue which, in my opinion, was badly mishandled by the previous Westminster Government.

Our universities are some of the finest higher education institutions in the world, renowned for their teaching and their research, for being able to attract the brightest and the best, and for the rich contributions they make to Scottish society. They will not stay that way unless politicians remove their heads from the sand and come together to sort this. It is too important to get it wrong.

Elizabeth Smith CBE is a Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife and Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government