The future is more than just tomorrow: Higher education, the economy and the longer term is published as part of the second strand of Universities UK’s From Recession to Recovery project, supported by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).

The commentary, which has been written by Professor Geoffrey Crossick at the invitation of Universities UK, reflects on longer-term issues facing higher education in the context of recession and crisis in public finance. The views expressed are written from a personal perspective with the aim of stimulating and encouraging a wider and ongoing debate around the themes presented.

Professor Crossick draws upon the findings of three mini-reports, recently commissioned by Universities UK to consider some of the key consequences of the current economic climate:

1) Adapting business models in a changing environment considers how diversification of income streams has affected universities’ activity to respond to the current economic and fiscal environment.
2) Changes in student choices and graduate employment considers the recessionary (and anticipated post-recessionary) trends in student choices and current and future graduate employability.
3) The global picture considers how the reactions of national governments to recent economic developments have impacted on HE sectors in our main competitor countries.

All three reports are now available.