Guardian data reveals that, in the last year one in every five pounds earned by universities in UK was contributed from international students, the growth of the sector depends on financial survival from overseas tuition fees.
With the annual rush to allot university places for the next year about to begin, there are doubts that UK students could loose out to their overseas counterparts, whosehigher fees have become crucial to university accounts.
At some institutions, tuition fees from international pupils now make up a third or more of the total income, with many universities registering sharp rises in the proportion of their income from foreign students in recent years.
A dozen universities have seen progress of more than 15 percentage points, while the number of foreign pupils has increased in about 80% of UK universities since 2016-17, with 30 institutions employing double the number of foreign pupils.
The tuition fees from EU and non-EU pupils made up more than half (54%) of total income in 2021-22 up from just over a third in 2016-17, at the Royal College of Art (RCA) and the University of the Arts London.
However, the University for the Creative Arts, which also specializes in art and design, and the University of Hertfordshire have registered the highest rise in international tuition fee income stake, surge from 13% to 33% of over-all income in six years.
Prof Quintin McKellar, Hertfordshire’s vice-chancellor said, to our universities foreign pupils bring vibrancy and energy, which support courses which we are unable to offer to our UK pupils without their enrolment and they greatly support our university finances.
The number of foreign pupils selecting to study in the UK- many of them postgraduates- has increased by 48% in six years, with some of the largest increases from India and Nigeria, where enrolment agents have worked hard. From the European union the number of pupilscoming to study has reduced by 14%, while China continues to rule, accounting for a close to a quarter of all international pupils.
To deliver the best possible student experience, universities will always work to run as efficient as possible and maximize other revenue streams. However, as cost rises and deficits grow, university’s capability to ease the effect on quality and choices for pupils are limited.
We need more sustainable approach to funding higher education which can offset the impact of inflation on per-student funding, it should affordable and fair for pupils and the taxpayers, and protects the skills to support innovation and economic growth.
