UK Universities Merge Amidst Worsening Funding Crisis

The University of Greenwich and Kent in southern England are merging into one of the UK's largest institutions, creating a blueprint for other economically challenged universities to follow.

The combination aims to achieve 'greater economies of scale' and allow for the centralizing of some services under a restructuring that is still being drawn up.

British universities have long relied on attracting higher-paying international students, but domestic demographics, tighter visa rules, and increased competition from Asia are strangling this revenue stream.

According to Universities UK, its members face a combined £3.7 billion funding hit by the end of the decade from government policy decisions, including tighter immigration rules.