Tuition fees aren’t being used to boost our pay, says Oxford head
THE head of Oxford University has accused politicians of damaging UK universities by making “spurious” links between tuition fees and high vice-chancellors’ salaries.
Professor Louise Richardson said it was dishonest to suggest that university bosses had used £9,000 tuition fees to boost their own pay packets.
Her comments come amid growing concerns over inflationbusting pay rises for vice-chancellors and ongoing debate about tuition fees and whether students receive value for money. Speaking at the Times Higher Education’s World Academic Summit in London, Prof Richardson said: “I think it’s completely mendacious by politicians to suggest that vice-chancellors have used the £9,000 fee to enhance their own salaries.
“We know that the £9,000 fees were a substitute for the withdrawal of government funding.
“My own salary is £350,000. That’s a very high salary compared to our academics who I think are, junior academics especially, very lowly paid.
“Compared to a footballer, it looks very different, compared to a banker if looks very different.
“But actually, we operate, as I keep saying, in a global marketplace.”
Prof Richardson said figures show that three years ago, 40 heads of American universities earned more than a $1m, including eight public universities. At least eight earned more than $2m.
Prof Richardson, who joined Oxford last year, has spent most of her career in the United States and her predecessor, Prof Andrew Hamilton, left to join New York University.