SUNDERLAND University is reported to be fighting for survival because of falling student numbers.

According to Natfhe, the lecturers' union, Sunderland and five other universities have been put under emergency supervision by the Higher Education Funding Council.

The institutions have all been ordered to submit proposals for rescue plans by next week.

Although student numbers have fallen for most universities, the lack of financial input from students has had a devastating effect on new universities.

Union leaders held a meeting with representatives from Sunderland on Saturday.

A union spokeswoman said: "The new universities have been seriously under-funded.

"They have been doing the lion's share of the task of widening access to the sector, but they are more susceptible to the worst effects of the market."

Changes in student funding are believed to be one of the reasons for falling attendance at Sunderland University.

The spokeswoman said: "Students who know they will be saddled with £14,000 of debt at the end of a course are making choices."

She said if they could get a place in an old university where funding was better they would go. It is also thought that because the Government funded 40,000 extra places last year, more students get their first choice, which tends to be an older university such as Durham.

Twelve new universities saw their applications decline by more than ten per cent last year, leaving them open to fines from the Higher Education Funding Council for missing recruitment targets.

It is feared that Sunderland, which saw a 13 per cent drop in applications last year, may have to impose redundancies or consider possible closure.

No one at Sunderland University was available for comment yesterday.