How Labour could make Scotland's university funding crisis even worse
Economic growth is the holy grail for this and every government, and an essential factor in achieving that is education. But in Scotland, as across the rest of the UK, the policies of Keir Starmer’s government are creating an increasing challenge for our universities.
Of course, much of that is the result of the funding structure created by Holyrood. But the pressure on their finances has been ratcheted up several notches by the increases to employers’ national insurance contributions, and by confusion surrounding immigration proposals, which if they go ahead would undermine their ability to attract international students.
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Hide AdA clarification late last week suggested Scotland might be spared this blow, despite the fact that was never mentioned when I raised it in parliament. All fingers will be crossed, hoping to avoid a bill which Universities Scotland estimated at £85 million a year.


International students in love
But even without it the picture is challenging. Dundee University recently announced 300 redundancies – down from an original figure of 700 – while the University of Aberdeen has warned of around 70 job losses because of a £5.5m hole in its finances.
International income is vital not just to Scottish but to all British universities. The ability to attract international students is both an indicator of an institution's reputation and a vital source of finance, particularly with the difficulties faced with the current funding model in Scotland.
When I began my time as a university teacher, I had two foreign students in a class of 30. Ten years later, that number was approaching 50 per cent of a larger group.
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Hide AdIn my career, I have also come across doctors, scientists, industrialists and entrepreneurs who came to study at our world-renowned universities, fell in love, either with our country or an individual, and then went on to make significant contributions to our economy and culture.
Following my calls for a visa route to be established for Americans who no longer want to live under a Trump presidency, I have received numerous emails from US residents who have degrees from Scottish universities, and who told me how they put their education into practice in our country. How they paid their taxes, and became part of their communities.
Damaging UK’s reputation and economy
Labour’s immigration proposals would undermine our potential to continue to attract those young people, the best and brightest of their generation, by putting a price tag on their heads for our educational institutions.
If universities in any part of the UK cannot afford to teach them, they will find it difficult to afford to teach those who attend from here. Their loss will undermine our international reputation, our scientific and medical research potential and also our economy.
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Hide AdThe income from international students is now greater than that from domestic students. The funding model is broken, but to punish both students, teachers and the institutions as a whole is not a solution.
If education is the communication of knowledge, then it is naïve at best to think we do not need to learn from those beyond our own borders. Tony Blair once famously spoke of the three most important priorities of his party as being, “education, education, education”.
His successors might benefit from going back to school.
Christine Jardine is the Scottish Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West
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