No strength in numbers: Mergers may not be the answer for higher education institutions seeking savings’

A report out last month from the credit ratings service Moody’s described a global higher education sector in a state of flux. It predicted both increased student demand for places and greater competition between institutions for students, academics and funding, envisaging that new funding models would be set up in response. The result, it suggested, would be more mergers and restructurings as universities tried to achieve economies of scale and contain expenses.