英国开放大学经费结构与财务机制分析

An Analysis of the Financial Structure of Open University of the United Kingdom

英国高等教育公共事业费的投入主要有两个渠道:高等教育拨款委员会负责分配教学经费和部分研究经费。建校后的前24年,英国开放大学的经费直接来自于英国政府的教育科学部。1992年,英国开放大学进入主流的高等教育拨款体系,和普通大学一起直接参与公共经费的竞争,主要由英格兰高等教育拨款委员会负责向英国开放大学拨款。多年以来,英国开放大学的公共事业费拨款额一直稳居英国大学的首位。英国开放大学的财务结构健康稳定,财务决策、管理、预算、分配、使用、核算、审计、监控方面的制度健全,收支平衡,年有结余,从而保障了学校发展和教育质量的领先地位。

Government funding for UK higher education comes from two sources： funding from the Higher Education Funding Council （ HEFC ） for teaching and research, and funding from the Research Councils for research. During its first 24 years, the British Open University was financed directly by the Department of Education and Science （DES） on a triennial system. Starting from 1992, the Open University has merged into mainstream higher education, for instance, by sharing a unified funding system with other traditional universities, with the Higher Education Funding Council for England （ HEFCE ） taking the major responsibility. The secure and healthy financial structure of the Open University, with its sound regulations in terms of decision making, management, planning, budgeting, allocation of resources, spending, accounting, auditing, and controlling and monitoring, enables a financial balance between income and expenditure, and guarantees the quality provision and achievement.