Filtered by category: HEPI UK, tag: uk universities × Clear
Endowment is the missing pillar of university finance
UK universities rely on public grants, tuition fees, and research income, but largely neglect endowments as a funding pillar. Outside Oxford and Cambridge, UK universities hold around £5 billion in endowment assets, generating just 0.3% of sector income. Only 10% of philanthropic income goes to endowments, versus 29% in the US. Experts argue that pooled investment structures, stronger governance, and better fundraising alignment could grow non-Oxbridge endowments from £5 billion to £38 billion over 20 years.
WEEKEND READING: Research may lose money. Cutting it could lose universities even more
UK universities face a £6.18bn research deficit, with only 66.6% of full economic costs recovered. While cutting research may seem an obvious response, analysis of 16 research-intensive universities suggests this could damage international student recruitment. The relationship varies by discipline: in engineering and medicine, research income drives recruitment, while in social sciences, publication quality is the stronger signal — with one REF ranking place associated with roughly £13m in additional annual international fee income.
New HEPI and CUP&A Report: ‘Soft Power Index 2026’
Matched: AI
The 2026 HEPI/Cambridge University Press & Assessment Soft Power Index finds the US and UK together educated 126 current world leaders, with the US leading at 66 and the UK at 60. France ranks third with 29. Harvard, Oxford and Sandhurst top the institutional rankings. The 10th anniversary edition also examines how recent UK policy changes on international students could affect the country's long-term global influence.