View Opinions That Some UK Universities Should Be Closed in Order to Fund Remaining Ones Better.

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c41138) has announced the addition of "Issues in Higher Education Funding Market Assessment 2006" to their offering.

The Topic:

`Education, Education, Education' was Prime Minister Tony Blair's catchphrase when the Labour Party came to power in 1997.

The ensuing years saw a big political effort to increase the numbers of 18 year-olds entering higher education. Yet the UK still spends a relatively low proportion of national income on higher education.

This Market Assessment report assesses developments in funding since 2002, the last time we investigated the topic.

Objectives:

--To review the roles of the public and private sectors in higher education in the UK.

--To consider the extent to which private-sector involvement needs to expand in the future.

--To relate our opinion survey findings to the Government's priorities for higher education.

Methodology:

--Statistics from the Higher Education Funding Councils, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES -- formerly the Department for Education and Employment) and other government and official sources form the factual basis of this report.

Original research:

We commissioned a survey conducted by NEMS Market Research into the public's attitudes towards and willingness to pay for higher education.

Problems in the Research Process:

Comparisons between the April 2006 NEMS Market Research survey and our research in November/December 2001, conducted by NOP, need to be treated with some caution because, although some of the statements are identical, the methodologies were not exactly the same. Apart from the fact that two different companies were involved, in 2001 interviews were in person but in 2006 they were by telephone.

Definition:

`Higher education' is above the standard of `A' levels in England and Wales, and Highers in Scotland, and includes first degrees such as Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Science (BSc); higher degrees such as Master of Arts (MA) and Master of Science (MSc); and research degrees, notably Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). Qualifications with a vocational orientation, such as the Higher National Diploma (HND, slightly below degree level), are also defined as `higher education'.

Traditionally, students have attended universities for higher education. A much wider range of institutions now offer degrees, increasingly as satellite or franchised centres, and students also have the option of distance learning.

The term `further education' is not interchangeable with `higher education'. Further education refers to education below degree level for people over the minimum school leaving age of 16. Often, further-education courses are technical or vocational. The distinction is anachronistic.

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c41138