US universities will probably face financial pressure until at least mid-2016, including an erosion of federal funding, says a report by Moody's Investors Service in New York. The report, 2015 Outlook - US Higher Education: Slow Tuition Revenue Growth Supports Negative Outlook, released on 1 December, predicts that universities will continue to battle for tuition-fee revenue, state funding and federal grants. Moody's, a credit-rating agency, expects federal grant amounts and activity, especially from the US National Institutes of Health and the US National Science Foundation, to decline in the next 12-18 months. It says that the contraction will be a result of discretionary spending cuts, federal budget pressures and the continuing effects of last years across-the-board funding sequestration. Research will increasingly be funded through private donations and gifts, the report predicts. The continued negative outlook, in effect since January 2013, means that Moody's is more likely to give poor credit ratings to US universities, which will incur higher borrowing costs and might be forced to scale back hiring plans.
展开▼
