§ Lord Baker of Dorkingasked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the amount provided by the state, through public sector funding (both national and local) to higher education in each of the last 20 years, expressed as a percentage of the gross domestic product. [HL1326]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of Stare, Department for Education and Skills (Baroness Ashton of Upholland)The proportion of GDP spent on UK higher education by the government for each financial year, both including and excluding the DTI/OST science budget, is given in the attached table, along with the spending figures and latest GDP figures. From 1998, students taking full-time undergraduate courses, and their families, made a contribution to tuition fees on a means tested basis. The table also shows public expenditure on higher education when those contributions are taken into account.
All three sets of figures include expenditure from public funds on tuition fees, maintenance awards and student loans. Figures for 2001–02 and 2002–03 are based on current spending plans. The proportions will vary depending upon the performance of the economy, which determines the level of GDP.
Total public spending on higher education in the UK is currently around £10 billion. By 2002–03, public spending on higher education in the UK, excluding the science budget, will have increased by just over 26 per cent in cash terms compared with 1998–99: a real terms increase of 15 per cent.
51WA
Year GDP CASH (£billion) HE Spend Including Science Budget (£billion) HE Spend Including Science Budget as % of GDP HE Spend excluding Science Budget (£billion) HE Spend Excluding Science Budget as % of GDP HE Spend Inclusive of Tuition fee Income from Students and their families Including Science Budget (£billion) HE Spend Inclusive of Tuition fee Income from Students and their families Including Science Budget as % of GDP 1981–82 259.45 3.44 1.33% 2.99 1.15% — — 1982–83 283.44 3.67 1.29% 3.18 1.12% — — 1983–84 308.07 3.93 1.27% 3.42 1.11% — — 1984–85 330.70 4.07 1.23% 3.52 1.06% — — 1985–86 362.81 4.20 1.16% 3.61 1.00% — — 1986–87 388.13 4.43 1.14% 3.81 0.98% — — 1987–88 431.24 4.76 1.10% 4.10 0.95% — — 1988–89 479.93 5.11 1.06% 4.41 0.92% — — 1989–90 525.14 5.62 1.07% 4.80 0.91% — — 1990–91 563.74 6.20 1.10% 5.31 0.94% — — 1991–92 595.05 6.97 1.17% 6.06 1.02% — — 1992–93 615.40 7.82 1.27% 6.77 1.10% — — 1993–94 653.58 8.38 1.28% 7.21 1.10% — — 1994–95 690.58 8.96 1.30% 7.73 1.12% — — 1995–96 729.00 9.36 1.28% 8.07 1.11% — — 1996–97 772.92 9.17 1.19% 7.86 1.02% — — 1997–98 824.40 9.40 1.14% 8.07 0.98% — — 1998–99 868.81 9.30 1.07% 7.97 0.92% 9.44 1.09% 1999–00 914.9 9.75 1.07% 8.25 0.90% 10.02 1.09% 2000–01 954.8 10.50 1.10% 8.91 0.93% 10.82 1.13% 2001–02 990.0 11.41 1.15% 9.65 0.97% 11.79 1.19% 2002–03 1,036 11.99 1.16% 10.08 0.97% 12.40 1.20%,