Scotland's universities are facing a £500 million funding 'black hole', according to estimates from the sector.
And the principal of one of the leading universities has warned that its finances are under “serious threat.”
University of Edinburgh principal Petter Mathieson said in a BBC interview with that the University of Edinburgh's income could drop by up to £150 million as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
He said the university may no longer need the scale of buildings and facilities it currently has.
The comments came ahead of Scottish Funding Council chief executive Karen Watt giving evidence to the Scottish Parliament's education committee.
The Funding Council is one source of funding for Scotland's universities, with another key one being the substantial tuition fees paid by students from outside the European Union.
The single biggest challenge for the university of Edinburgh is the likelihood of a large drop in the number of students from outside Europe, some of whom pay tuition fees of around £30,000 a year.
It has an annual income of £1 billion and has running costs, including salaries, of around £90m a month.
Estimates for the slump in foreign fee earnings range from 25 per cent upwards.
Mathieson said: “We're trying to be honest and transparent with our staff, so we've said that at the moment we're looking at things like limiting pay rises and limiting promotions in the next academic year because that will save us money.
“We haven't started talking about redundancies but all universities are looking at their future size and their shape.
“Obviously, if we are receiving smaller number of students and many more of our staff are working from home, which I do anticipate will continue to be the case for some time to come, then we may not need the scale of buildings and facilities that we originally thought we needed.”
