It's been a bad year for universities.

The row over vice-chancellors' pay has been a long, drawn-out box set of disasters for universities, with the highest-paid leader, the head of the University of Bath, stepping down, in a moment that was both unprecedented and deeply symbolic.

Tuition fees have been frozen and an imminent major review of student funding has cast a cloud of financial uncertainty. The level of fees, interest rates, the sale of student debt, the return of maintenance grants, the length of repayments could all be under scrutiny. There will be warnings that changes to fees could mean reintroducing limits on student numbers and questions about attracting more mature and part-time students.

There will also be calls for more substantial changes, such as switching from fees and loans entirely to a graduate tax or some kind of graduate contribution scheme.

Universities remain an aspiration for families, a priority for a modern economy and a major export business. Maybe their biggest challenge is to find a renewed sense of purpose and to make a new contract with the public about how they can support one another.

Read the full article by Sean Coughlan about the challenges facing universities from BBC