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Higher education and research: economic stakes due to COVID-19

Published on 21 October 2020


On 15 October, SKEMA dean Alice Guilhon participated in an online conference organised by the Campus Com agency in partnership with ARCES (association of communication managers in higher education). She talked about the economic stakes and the financing of higher education institutions during this challenging time of the COVID-19 health crisis.

​How are higher education institutions coping with the COVID-19 health crisis? What are the financial implications in a budgetary context that is already strained? Why will recovery plans be necessary? With distance learning, international mobility, budget control, etc., what are the keys to the post-COVID-19 situation? How can (new) financial difficulties be dealt with?


Alice Guilhon, dean of SKEMA Business School and vice-president of the CGE, spoke on the topic "Is higher education and research a market like any other?” with Martine Depas, partner of Financière de Courcelles, a mergers and acquisitions specialist in education and training.

After outlining the sector’s current economic and financial situation, listing proposals for improvement (such as tax exemption facilities for tuition fees) and highlighting the dangers involved (including possibly limited coverage of tuition fees for apprentices and work-study students), the discussion brought to light private investors’ strong interest in education. "… a sector with resilient profitability, where demand is far greater than supply" according to Martine Depas. 

When questioned on this subject, Alice Guilhon stressed the difference between investment funds designed to aid establishments in inancial difficulty and "cost killers", which foster profitability over development and would thus be problematic.
"It depends mainly on each institution’s governance and business model. If the players share the same strategic line, the same ambitions and the same goals, funds can be a source of support and financing for the development of higher education and research institutions," she said.

She also commented on the transition now taking place in higher education institutions. "We are in a position that illustrates Darwin's theory: on the one hand, the American model with exorbitant tuition fees and colossal student debt; on the other, a model where education is free, but is on its last legs. The crisis seems to be accelerating the trajectory, because education is a bulwark against the crisis. Our establishments are mission-oriented companies that act in the long-term. We play a role in transforming society, for we train the young people who will tackle tomorrow’s challenges.
This transition is not only technological (with distance learning), but is also changing educational models – for instance, with far more hybridised programmes which will combine many more short training courses, like professional certificates, in addition to longer courses.”



Several well-known figures participated in this webinar along with Alice Guilhon and Martine Depas:
- Jean Charroin: CEO of ESSCA 
- Nathalie Bousseau: Director of the CentraleSupélec Foundation and president of the AFF (French association of fundraisers)
- Benoît Berthou: Vice-president in charge of relations with the economic world at Sorbonne Paris Nord
- Noël Barbu: Chairman and CEO of Capacités, the research development subsidiary of the University of Nantes
- Vincent Huault: Vice-president in charge of Real Estate and Energy Transition - University of Lorraine
- Vincent Cohas: CEO of CESI
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