Scotsman leader: The time has come to rethink how we fund Scotland's universities

Jobs losses and threats of strike action at Scotland’s higher education institutions are symptoms of a broken funding model

News today of possible strike action by staff at the University of Edinburgh is further evidence of the crisis that has engulfed Scottish higher education.

The University and Colleges Union (UCU) is balloting its members over plans to slash £140 million from the institution’s budget.

The financial problems besetting Edinburgh are being experienced at other universities across Scotland. At Dundee, staff have been on strike following the announcement that 632 positions will be cut as the institution seeks to overcome a £35m deficit.

Recent accounts have shown eight out of 18 Scottish higher education institutions reported an operational deficit for 2023-24, up from four the previous year.

Universities will suffer from Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ decision to raid employers’ national insurance contributions, which takes effect this month and is expected to cost the sector £45m.

Protesters rally outside Caird Hall in Dundee in February over plans to cut hundreds of jobs at the city's university | Lisa Ferguson

Rising inflation, falling research funding and soaring utilities costs are also adding to the strain on university finances.

But, as Professor Sir Peter Mathieson, the Principal of the University of Edinburgh, wrote in The Scotsman’s sister title Scotland on Sunday yesterday, the problems with the funding model for Scottish higher education are systemic.

He wrote: “Our system is broken and requires radical rewiring to survive.”

Sir Peter added that Scotland has become “over-reliant on increases in international student numbers, which has proven an unsustainable model as geopolitics grows increasingly volatile and the UK’s attractiveness has declined”.

In 2014, the late former First Minister Alex Salmond declared “rocks would melt with the sun” before he allowed tuition fees to be imposed on Scotland’s students.

The financial strain on universities has become ever more apparent since this policy was introduced in 2007.

Recent polling has found almost half of Scots support ending “free tuition” for Scottish students and introducing some form of fees.

Whatever the alternative might be, the time has surely come for a rethink of how Scotland’s universities are funded.