Failure to reform Northern Ireland¡¯s ¡°unsustainable¡± higher education funding model will lead to a brain drain that will undermine the province¡¯s long-term economic future, a new study says.

The current period of ¡°unprecedented underfunding¡± is also likely to damage the quality and reputation of its two universities ¨C Queen¡¯s University Belfast and Ulster University ¨C which generated ?1.5 billion and ?845 million respectively for the region in 2013, according to the by the Royal Irish Academy, Ireland¡¯s leading body of experts in the sciences, humanities and social sciences.

The academy¡¯s advice paper calls on Northern Ireland¡¯s politicians to make higher education reform a ¡°high priority¡± once local elections have taken place on 5 May.

Assembly politicians and the Northern Ireland executive must invest at least ?55 million more a year from 2017-18 to make up the funding gap, allow the annual tuition fees charged to Northern Irish students, now ?3,805, to rise to ?9,000 a year, or find a middle way between the two remedies, says the Dublin-based organisation.

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¡°There is no magic formula that will allow Northern Ireland to simultaneously offer a relatively low-fee, high-quality university system with low government support,¡± it says.

The lower fees, allied with grant cuts, mean Northern Ireland¡¯s universities received ?1,000 to ?2,500 less per student than universities in England in 2014-15, says the paper.

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¡°It is inconceivable that Northern Ireland¡¯s universities will be able to maintain quality standards and reputation comparable to their counterparts and competitors in Britain and elsewhere while being funded at substantially lower levels per student,¡± it explains.

Efforts to boost the economy in Northern Ireland by cutting taxes, which experts believe could create 90,000 jobs and economic growth worth ?300 million a year, are likely to be undermined by the loss of prestige and capacity of the two landmark universities, the paper adds.

It may also lead to a skills shortage, with the province already reporting an undersupply of 1,600 individuals a year with expertise in science, engineering and technology skills, it adds.

Recent cuts of ?16 million ¨C leading to the loss of 350 staff posts and 500 student places in 2016 ¨C indicate the perils of the current funding regime, the paper adds.

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The failure to address the situation will ¡°lead inevitably to a decline in the quality and reputation of Northern Ireland¡¯s universities and their graduates, shortages of skills to support a rebalancing economy, further loss of local higher education student places and an associated increased ¡®brain drain¡¯¡±, it adds.

Stephen Farry, the minister for employment and learning and a member of the non-sectarian Alliance Party, launched the ¡°Big Conversation¡± consultation in September 2015 on the issue, stating that the current funding situation is ¡°unsustainable¡±.

While roughly trebling tuition fees would be ¡°politically challenging¡± for the region¡¯s power-sharing executive, the paper states that an ¡°appropriate and sustainable HE funding model is an essential condition for a prosperous and inclusive Northern Ireland¡±.

jack.grove@tesglobal.com