The Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE) this month announced funding for the 2010–11 academic year (August 1–July 31) of £7,356 million ($11,753 million), compared to £7,809 million last year. The HEFCE distributes government money to England’s universities and colleges. Funding for recurrent grants for teaching, research and the Higher Innovation Fund (HEIF) increased 0.9%, and includes a 2% increase in recurrent funding for research to £1,603 million. Of this research funding, 70% will go toward “mainstream quality-related research,” an increase of 2.1%, and £64 million will go toward business and industry research, a 1.3% increase. However, cash for capital funding declined 14.9% to £562 million, and special funding for national programs and initiatives declined 7% to £294 million. The HEIF received an 11.9% increase in funding to £150 million and £10 million was allocated to institutions to support STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects.

Source: HEFCE