Impact of International Students on UK Universities
Foreign students sometimes pay more than double their UK counterparts for the same course. Many of Britain’s leading universities have turned their sights on students abroad in their search for income.
Financial Dependency on International Students
Britain’s top universities are now relying heavily on fees from international students to sustain their operations, with some institutions garnering over three-quarters of their income from students abroad. The trend shows the growing importance of overseas cash influx to the financial health of British universities.
Growth in International Student Numbers
According to a report in The Times, there has been a 50 per cent increase in the number of foreign students in British universities over the past five years. Russell Group universities now derive 57 per cent of their fee income from overseas students, up from 49 per cent in 2016-17.
Concentration of International Fees
University College London, Imperial College, and the London School of Economics are seeing as much as 76-79 per cent of their fees coming from students abroad. Reliance on international tuition is particularly pronounced in newer British universities, with institutions like Roehampton, Bedfordshire, Central Lancashire, and Northumbria doubling their overseas income proportions to 30 per cent or higher, and Hertfordshire experiencing a 48 per cent surge.
Record Number of Overseas Students
In 2022, the number of overseas students studying in UK universities reached a record high of 679,970, constituting approximately 24 per cent of the total student population.
Implications and Government Support
For the last seven years, the tuition fees in the UK have remained frozen at £9,250 for local students. The UK government provides significant financial support of nearly £6 billion per year to the higher education sector, along with more than £10 billion per year in tuition fee loans. A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government emphasized that while British universities are independent from the government, domestic students should be the priority.
