A planned review of higher education funding in Northern Ireland must look beyond tuition fees and take a ¡°holistic¡± approach to reforming the entire ¡°unsustainable¡± system, according to vice-chancellors.

On top of the financial crisis gripping the UK sector at large, Northern Ireland¡¯s institutions have warned they face additional problems from significant underinvestment and restrictions because of the country¡¯s Maximum Student Number (MaSN) cap, which limits places to about 7,000-a-year.

A review of funding by the Department for the Economy (DfE), which is responsible for higher education, is expected to begin this spring. Fees in Northern Ireland have already risen in line with inflation to ?4,750, although remain well below the new maximum of ?9,535 in England and Wales.

Ian Greer, vice-chancellor of Queen¡¯s University Belfast, said the funding issue in Northern Ireland was ¡°much more complex¡± than increasing fees further ¨C particularly given the potential impact on widening participation.

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¡°Looking at one item in isolation won¡¯t do the trick,¡± he told Times Higher Education.?¡°We¡¯ll simply change the nature of the problem unless we take a holistic approach.¡±

Instead, he said any decisions by Stormont ¨C now one year on from the restoration of power-sharing ¨C must link tuition fees to overall university funding, student finance and support for research and innovation.

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With a dramatic cash injection from the executive unlikely, Greer said Queen¡¯s ¨C which recorded a ?12.7 million operating deficit last year and has launched a voluntary severance scheme ¨C has had to find new ways to support itself.

¡°All universities would like to see greater support, but in the current financial situation, we in Queen¡¯s believe that¡¯s unlikely to come, and therefore we think we¡¯ve got to deal with that ourselves by reducing our costs where possible and also growing and diversifying our income.¡±

The ,?show that 72 per cent of students in Northern Ireland were born locally in 2022-23 ¨C down from 80 per cent in 2020-21. In contrast, the proportion from outside the European Union almost doubled to 19 per cent over this period.

At Ulster University, which posted an operating deficit of ?2.5 million in 2023-24, vice-chancellor Paul Bartholomew said there have been ¡°inevitable financial consequences¡± of?diverging from the English model of funding in 2011.

¡°There is a widely shared understanding that the funding model for higher education in Northern Ireland is unsustainable,¡± he said.

¡°A raise in tuition fees, in isolation of other balancing measures, is not supported by Ulster University ¨C although we acknowledge that it may need to form part of a sustainable solution.¡±

Bartholomew added that the coming review must aid Ulster¡¯s ambition to maintain a multi-campus model and grow its provision in Derry-Londonderry.

Gerry McKenna, chair of the Royal Irish Academy¡¯s North-South committee, said a lack of places was not the only factor contributing to brain drain; students were also motivated by a desire for better opportunities elsewhere, negative perceptions about the local economy, and sectarian divisions.

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¡°It is not clear, therefore, that the relaxation of the MaSN cap, if accompanied by raising tuition fees to England and Wales levels, would necessarily increase greatly the numbers studying in NI, as some potential students could be deterred by higher fees and forgo an available university place,¡± he added.

Stormont has pledged to increase numbers at Ulster University¡¯s Magee campus in Derry to 10,000 by 2032, as part of repeated demands for the regeneration of Derry¡¯s university ecosystem.

However, McKenna added: ¡°It is difficult to envisage how increasing tuition fees could assist in attracting more students to the north-west.¡±

Fees for higher education students in the Republic of Ireland are currently just over half of those charged in Northern Ireland. And Fine Gael ¨C one half of the government coalition ¨C has expressed an aim to ¡°phase out¡± fees entirely.

About 4 per cent of students in Northern Ireland were from Great Britain and a further 4 per cent from the Republic of Ireland in 2022-23 ¨C both?relatively?unchanged over the past decade. But more recent data suggests .

Garbh¨¢n Downey, a spokesman for the Derry University Group (DUG), said the level of fees in the north compared with universities in the south was particularly significant for Derry given that it sits just 18 miles from the rapidly growing Atlantic Technological University campus across the border in Letterkenny.

¡°A rise in fees in Northern Ireland coupled with a drop in fees in the south will exacerbate the ongoing brain drain from the north and will stymie if not wreck the government¡¯s plan to have 10,000 full-time students at Magee,¡± he said.

Instead, the DUG backs a new north-south body to coordinate, structure and formalise the development of a north-west university, and called on the new minister for the economy, Caoimhe Archibald, to support the process of ¡°all-island HE alignment¡±.

A spokesperson for the DfE said there were no current plans to raise tuition fees to the levels seen in England and Wales, but that changes to the MaSN ¨C used to limit financial exposure ¨C may be considered.

¡°The department accepts the world is changing rapidly and the budget and funding environment is becoming increasingly difficult,¡± they said.

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¡°On this basis, officials have been undertaking preparatory work for a review of higher education funding. Officials are currently engaging with the sector as regards to the potential scope and approach.¡±

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com