Former principal slams funding of universities

The former principal of Queen Margaret University (QMU) has slammed the current arrangements for funding and organising of Scottish universities as "anachronistic" and fostering "predatory competition".

Prof Anthony Cohen, now retired from QMU, spoke after Lord Browne's review of university funding in England ruled the cap on tuition fees South of the Border should be lifted.

Writing in The Scotsman today, Prof Cohen said the review posed "huge challenges for the Scottish university system" even though it has no direct remit North of the Border.

He writes: "Principals are justifiably anxious about reductions in their own university's income and their ability to compete with their peers elsewhere in the UK and internationally."

He says current arrangements in Scotland need to change rather than simply trying to find new sources of funding.

He said: "Scotland's universities arguably punch above their weight and achieve excellence in spite of dysfunctional funding, regulatory and organisational systems and a confusion of purposes. Underfunding is a permanent condition."

He also criticises the way research funding is allocated saying it "stratified" the sector and "virtually excluded" post 1992 universities from a valuable funding source.

Although he stopped short of backing merging universities he says they should be encouraged to work together more or Scottish institutions would slip in the rankings.

He said: "The competition is beginning to tell with only Edinburgh, of all the Scottish universities, retaining its place in the top 100."