INCOME DIVERSIFICATION AND FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY IN ENGLISH UNIVERSITIES: THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL AND REMOTE METROPOLITAN BRANCH CAMPUSES

: (Alternative Format Thesis)

Abstract

From a financial perspective, these are worrying times for Higher Education in England. 70% of universities, as defined in this thesis, reported an annual loss in 2021/22, compared to only 18% in 2016/17. A range of factors have combined to create this existential risk, including a decade of fixed home undergraduate tuition fee caps and rapidly rising costs. Universities have responded through growth, and particularly an emphasis on recruiting more international students, but this strategy is now under threat from new visa regulations, which could impact key markets. Cost saving, organisational change and programme rationalisation have become widespread, but will inevitably create nervousness in a sector that has become ultra-competitive and driven by league tables, measurements and institutional comparisons.

Using an alternative format, and based on four original papers published (or awaiting publication) between 2022 and 2024, this thesis discusses English Higher Education’s financial conundrum, outlining the responses being taken. It also examines the potential of spatial diversification as a means of reaching new markets and generating value. Both international and remote metropolitan branch campuses have become popular amongst English universities, accounting for 43 sites and over 90,000 students in 2023. I analyse the potential of these models by employing a framework based on an external perspective (Resource Dependency Theory) and an internal perspective: the Resource-Based View of organisational strategy. My findings suggest that - whilst open to imitation and competition, and substitutable for other forms of income diversification - both international and remote metropolitan branch campuses offer the opportunity to generate genuinely new sources of revenue and financial sustainability, as well as indirect value relating to reputation and other factors.

Acknowledging that branch campuses can be expensive to establish and operate, and have failed in the past, I present a new theoretical model synthesising the environmental and organisational characteristics, and project factors, necessary to devise and implement a venture of this type. These include sufficient autonomy, strong leadership, management, and communication, a strategic orientation, cultural awareness, proactive stakeholder management and effective resource planning.

Date of Award	22 May 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bath
Supervisor	Dan Davies (Supervisor) & Nigel Healey (Supervisor)