Bradford University is facing an uncertain future. Students' fees, the abolition of grants, the collapse of the Pacific Rim economies, and the dire lack of cash threaten the very survival of such institutions. Has the new man in charge got a rescue package up his sleeve? Education reporter Chris Hewitt investigates.

Colin Bell, a sociologist by profession, is under no illusions that Bradford University has a secure and stable future.

When he takes over the reins as vice-chancellor in August, his job will be to steer the university through one of its most difficult and challenging times.

Like the police and the health service, Britain's universities are revered around the world but after years of under-funding the whole system of higher education is now at a crisis point.

Professor Bell is one of the first to admit that the system is "crumbling at the edges". Unless radical steps are taken by the Labour Government and universities themselves, the quality of teaching and the quality of graduates will deteriorate.

When so much onus is placed on international competition, the output of universities in terms of highly-skilled and innovative graduates is paramount to the whole country.

Indeed, one should not underestimate the key importance of Bradford University to the district and the region's economy.

It is not only one of the largest employers in the city, but also attracts almost 9,000 students into the area, who pump money into the economy. Last year, the university generated an income of more than £64m and that is a significant amount of money being circulated in Bradford's economy.

On his appointment as VC back in October, Prof Bell, a senior academic at Edinburgh University, said: "The university is a major force in the district of Bradford and increasingly important in creating and sustaining the type of workforce and society needed as we reach the next century."

Tony Blair and the Labour Government agree. They want to see participation in universities increase dramatically, particularly among those who have traditionally missed out on higher education - the working classes, or the underclasses, have they have become more popularly known.

But Labour does not have the money, hence, its plans to introduce tuition fees of £1,000 a year for students and the abolition of student grants in favour of a more comprehensive loan system.

Prof Bell does not have much faith that those proposals, borne out of the Dearing Report last year, will (a) increase student participation or (b) rescue universities from their financial plight.

"My great disappointment concerning the Dearing Report is that it was set up to solve the financial problems in higher education and create a new funding base. But it has not done so and I am genuinely worried about that," he said.

"Universities are beginning to crumble at the edges. People are very tired, people are very stressed. What they do for what they get paid is remarkable."

He certainly does not believe that the extra £1,000 per student will be enough to prop up the university. And Prof Bell has a further concern - the collapse of the Far East tiger economies of Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, which has provided a vital source of funding through research sponsorship and overseas students in recent years.

In the absence of any further state finance, Bradford University will have to find its funding from elsewhere and reduce its costs where it can.

Prof Bell sees a number of opportunities to enable the university to develop further.

Firstly, stronger ties with Bradford and Ilkley Community College - even merger of certain departments and services, if not wholesale merger.

This would not only share costs between two institutions but channel local students through the college into the university - a process that is already happening but on a small scale.

Secondly, he is keen to forge new partnerships with industry to generate more sponsorship for research.

Thirdly, he wants to modernise the facilities at the university and high on his agenda will be a new teaching block with up-to-date lecture theatres.

Fourthly, he wants to encourage more students from Bradford and the Yorkshire region entering Bradford University, particularly people from ethnic minorities.

"My job will be to eliminate competition and to encourage co-operation wherever possible," he said. "We are going to have to go out to earn money. We will be looking for more money from state finances but we have also got to find funding from industry. We will have to move towards an increasing proportion of self-financing.

"Bradford has an opportunity and a responsibility to seek solutions to increase the participation of large numbers of the population, who have been excluded from higher education in the past."

Prof Bell's recruitment has been widely regarded as a significant coup for Bradford within university circles.

His track record at Edinburgh in setting policies for improving the quality of teaching and learning, and increasing the recruitment of students, from both home and abroad, is prodigious.

One hopes he can wave his magic wand in Bradford to ensure that the city university grows even stronger as it heads into the next millennium.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.