Over half of Scotland’s higher education institutions are in dispute or have been in dispute this past year over staffing or funding cuts.
Claire McPherson, director of Universities Scotland, said: “The grim reality is that universities are facing an incredibly challenging mix of rising costs, set against both falling and highly volatile sources of income, domestically and internationally.”
More than half of Scotland’s universities are forecast to be in deficit this year.
Rising costs – particularly the impact of inflation, energy prices and national insurance increases – have all hit the sector, whilst the number of international students has dropped for the past two years.
Universities have long claimed that the money they receive from the Scottish government to ensure “free tuition” for Scottish students has not kept pace with inflation and is less per student than similar institutions in England get from tuition fees.
Recruiting international students who pay higher fees – of up to £40,000 per year – has helped fill the financial shortfall.
But changes to immigration and visa rules, currency fluctuations and increasing international competition have combined to leave this income stream vulnerable.