University resourcing: Australia in an international context

There is great diversity in the financial resourcing of Australian as well as overseas universities, the Productivity Commission has found.

Its report, University Resourcing: Australia in an International Context, was commissioned by the Government as part of the review of higher education in Australia. (Preliminary results were released in October last year.)

Unlike a number of overseas institutions, Australian universities generally received the largest share of their revenue from government. Also, a greater share of their revenue was from students (accounting for HECS). Full-fee-paying international students contributed up to 50 per cent of total student revenue in the Australian sample.

For over a third of the overseas universities studied, revenue from other (private) sources — such as, donations, investments and commercial activities — accounted for a greater proportion of revenue than revenue from either government or students.

Major differences in the approach to funding among the countries studied include Australia’s system of future income contingent student loans (HECS) to meet tuition fees, the use of independent funding allocation agencies in some other countries and the performance-based allocation of research grants in the United Kingdom.

In 1999 (the latest year reported by the OECD), expenditure on tertiary education as a proportion of GDP was higher in Australia than in the United Kingdom and some other European countries, but was lower than in Canada, the United States and Sweden.

Preliminaries
Cover, Copyright, Foreword, Contents, Abbreviations, Terms of reference, Summary of findings

1 Introduction
1.1 Background
1.2 Objectives
1.3 Scope
1.4 Approach
1.5 Information collection and consultation
1.6 Structure of the report

2 Higher education
2.1 Classifications of tertiary education
2.2 Participation in higher education
2.3 Graduation
2.4 Academic staff

3 Financial resources
3.1 Financial flows
3.2 Total expenditure on tertiary institutions
3.3 Relative proportions of government and private expenditures on tertiary institutions
3.4 Government payments to institutions, students and other private entities

4 Government support mechanisms
4.1 Support for universities
4.2 Support for students
4.3 Indirect support

5 University revenues
5.1 Total revenue
5.2 Sources of revenue
5.3 Revenue from government
5.4 Revenue from students
5.5 Other revenue

6 University expenses
6.1 Expense categories
6.2 Expenses by type
6.3 Expenses by function

7 University assets and liabilities
7.1 Assets
7.2 Liabilities

8 University financial position
8.1 Operating surplus
8.2 Net cash flows
8.3 The current ratio

9 University commercial activities
9.1 Scope
9.2 Revenue from commercial activities
9.3 Subsidiary activities and operations

10 University governance
10.1 Governance of the corporate university
10.2 Scope of analysis
10.3 Performance reporting
10.4 Monitoring effectiveness of processes
10.5 Auditing compliance with external regulation and university procedures
Attachment A

Appendix A Participation

Appendix B Purchasing Power Parity Conversion

Appendix C Tax treatment of gifts and donations to universities — selected countries

Appendix D University data

Glossary

References