Could a university just close down ?

[mouthpipette]

Sooner or later one or other university is going to be no longer financially viable to maintain.
What happens then ?
Does the government step in with funds until all students have completed their courses and then close it ? Does it continue to fund it ?

Could it be bought up as a private university, specifically catering for certain clients ? That might work if it were in London, or a particularly pretty part of England.

Could it seek amalgamation with a neighbour ?

What does University failure look like ?

Is this just ridiculous supposition ?

Apologies if this has already been discussed.

They certainly do in the US. My friend went to one and got multiple copies of her transcripts in case she wanted to do an advanced degree later- although luckily they have made a provision for that.

This was a Catholic uni and I guess the local archdiocese keeps this page up. You can see what remains:

https://stritch.edu/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Stritch_University

There will be an institutional plan approved by the OfS which usually involves offering students places at the closest / similar universities who offer the course to teach it out.

it’s happened at smaller institutions before

While mergers are common, in this case that wasn't on the table. Local universities and even further ones offered students really fair transfer opportunities.

While it feels kind, these universities also would benefit from an uplift in their numbers. These were typically similarly small religious schools in the state and wider region who offered a plan for these students (about 1300 by the end) if they wanted to transfer to finish their studies:

https://www.carthage.edu/admissions/undergraduate-students/cardinal-stritch-students/

Small unis do shut down all the time. This is just one of several that year.

Lampeter has.

I think Lampeter was part of Trinity St Davids, so it was the site that closed, not the uni. I believe some courses are no longer offered and others have moved to the nearby Carmarthen campus.
It's very sad for Lampeter, and the students. There's no other uni like it.

Oh yes - it’s inevitable sadly. We have seen several mergers of big institutions. The Scottish Gov (remember HE is devolved) has just loaned Dundee £22m otherwise they’d have been bankrupt by June. The problem is, that aside from a merger, there is no formal realistic plan (in England at least) for a large scale failure. There have been many smaller failures, and student protection plans and involvement of the regulator has meant that students have been able to transfer in a reasonably orderly way to another provider.

If a large provider suddenly went under, logistically that’s a huge number of students to place elsewhere. The regulator has only just started to get on top of the situation - frankly they should be replaced. But they will force some mergers soon - and possibly some closures/teaching out (who is going to want to stay though) over the next year.

its dire at the moment.

Not that many private providers have degree awarding powers, so only a few would be able to step in - and realistically they’re not going to want, or be able to deliver much other than cheap cash-cow business and law courses. Who can teach chemistry?

See this for redundancies: https://qmucu.org/qmul-transformation/uk-he-shrinking/

Yes, they surely can, with all the effects on the local economies which shall result.

I once worked at a university - a really excellent UK university - which was on the verge of a financial crisis & bankruptcy in the 1990s. They did a deal with creditors and with staff (when I joined the effects of this deal on staff were still present).

But I think in the current crisis, the government will let some (but not all) universities go to the wall. There will be mergers - probably mergers of non-elite/research intensive places with their more research-intensive neighbour - great for those at the former poly, not so great for those - staff and students - at the more research-intensive university, as they will still be carrying the loads of teaching plus high targets for research (which ex-ploys really don't have). at