A frisson of anxiety passed through Britain’s universities this week when the Financial Times reported that the Treasury was resisting a £2bn bailout for the higher education sector. Coronavirus is hitting these institutions hard, with the loss of overseas students who bring in £7bn of fee revenue. Universities UK, the umbrella body, has developed a rescue package but the sector’s advocates are meeting a cool response in Whitehall.
The reason is that universities are not in favour at the moment — their critics see them as having grown too big and too expensive, with vice-chancellors paid too much, and the critics are influencing government policies.
Too big? Universities have cer