Frank Larkins and Ian Marsbman crunched the numbers on university financials (ex SA) to find 2020 was not as bad as widely expected

In Features this morning they set out the universities which took the hardest income hits (UNSW was down $182m), which cut deepest (UNSW, again at $120m), among a mass of mainly miserable measures (only three universities increased income from fees and charges).

And they conclude worse is underway. “With no prospect in the short or medium term of borders being re-opened to international students, an extended lockdown in NSW and repeated lockdowns in Victoria, the financial challenges occurring in 2021 are likely to be greater than in 2020.”