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An Educational Challenge
The UK government has another challenge on its hands – the New University Challenge, which will see 20 new university campuses open across the UK over the next six years.
The challenge announced on March 3 by John Denman, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills underlines the importance of universities and higher education provision to the nation's economic and social success. It also aims to bring the benefits of higher education and the possibility of a university degree to areas of under-provision.
The 20 new university campuses across the UK could be linked to an existing university or further education college or be entirely new. Filled to capacity, the new centres could provide study places for up to 10,000 students. This is in addition to the 17 new higher education centres that have been opened or have been given funding since 2003. The expansion plans follow the announcement at the end of February that the Government is preparing a blueprint for university reform ahead of the review of tuition fees in 2009.
Denman hopes the plans and university growth will have a major impact on regional economies, where local universities could play a key role in driving economic regeneration. “Never have universities and colleges been more important to our country both nationally in ensuring our success on the world stage and locally in our towns and cities through the creation of jobs and new skills, driving regeneration and enriching cultural life.”
The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS), estimates that the higher education sector generates £50 billion to the economy each year. It highlights that those with a university degree experience much lower rates of unemployment and underemployment when compared to the population in general. What’s more, the DIUS maintains that an increase of just one percentage point of people in the workforce with a degree, instead of just A-levels or equivalent, would lead to an increase in national productivity of 0.5%.
When you take into account there are roughly five million adults of working age in the UK with A-levels or equivalent qualifications who have not continued to gain an undergraduate degree there is considerable scope for growth, especially in areas without a university.
It is not only local and regional economies that look to gain from this new development. It is hoped that the expansion of higher education will help to maintain Britain’s standing in the world university rankings. According to the THE-QS World University Rankings, the UK currently has four universities rated among the top ten in the world and is the second most popular destination for international students to study. The DIUS says the value that employers place on graduates - demonstrated by the financial returns for graduates - is amongst the highest in the developed world. Therefore, convenient and accessible higher education is an important asset for a community in raising the skills of its people.
The Higher Education Funding Council of England (HEFCE) has set aside £150 million towards the ambitious project and is expecting that the projects will attract funding from other sources.
Professor David Eastwood, Chief Executive of HEFCE, said: 'We warmly welcome this initiative which will significantly build on the achievements of the funding council working with a wide range of partners in delivering higher education to parts of the country where there has been serious under-provision. Such developments can have a profound impact on economic regeneration as well as transforming the lives of students with no previous experience of higher education.’
Information sourced from The Times, “University Challenge for 20 new campuses” by Alexandra Frean, 3 March 2008
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