A SENIOR Liverpool academic warned proposed funding cuts could force universities to recruit more students from overseas.

The warning came as all four of the region’s universities rounded on Business Secretary Lord Mandelson after he announced on Tuesday that university budgets will be slashed by a further £135m for next year.

In his annual grant letter to the Higher Education Funding Council for England, Lord Mandelson said the cutbacks were needed to pay for the “higher than expected cost” of funding grants and loans for the record number of students going to university during the recession.

He also announced that universities will face multimillion-pound fines for over-recruiting students this autumn and to make university more appealing to a wider audience said students should have access to “fast-track degrees, that can be completed full-time in two years.”

Last night, all three Liverpool universities, and Edge Hill, in Ormskirk, condemned the news which comes on top of a previous announcement that universities must find £180m of efficiency savings over the next 18 months.

With universities facing a £3,700 fine for every student they take on above agreed limits and the squeeze on finances, Bill Chambers, Pro Vice-Chancellor at Hope University said: “If the money is not there to recruit extra students, then pressure will rise to recruit from overseas as they can pay higher fees.”

He said the cuts were “not a shock” and Hope was in a good position to deal with funding cuts due to its prudence.

He said the two-year degree was not long enough for young students coming into study at 18 who are “growing up and need a three-year period” and mature students often needed that time to get readjusted to their studies.

He said universities were already offering a wide range of vocational courses, including two-year foundation degrees.

And he added: “It will certainly have an impact on standards.”