International Students Paying Dividends For UK Universities

Fri, 19 Sep 2008

The increase in the number of international students enrolled at British universities has contributed to the boom in income by the UK’s higher education sector, new research suggests.

According to a new report, titled the ‘Patterns of Higher Education Institutions in the UK’, the tuition paid by the ever-increasing number of students from outside the EU (enrolled at British institutions) over the past decade has helped boost the higher education sector’s largest relative increase in income .

From 1997-98 to 2006-7, the number of international students studying at British universities has more than doubled, with China sending the largest number of students in most levels of study, closely followed by students from India which are well represented at graduate level.

"Students from the United States are also prominent, especially amongst undergraduate visiting and junior-year-abroad students and at postgraduate levels," the report said.

Foreign students from outside the EU are usually forced to pay much higher tuition fees than the government-set undergraduate cap of £3,000 per year, which applies to domestic and EU students .

As a result, international students have become an increasingly important source of income for UK institutions. A growing number of universities now seek to enrol "large numbers" of foreign students in order to increase their revenue .

"In 2001/02, there were just three institutions with more than 5,000 students from outside the UK. By 2006/07 that number had risen to 14," the report highlighted.

The report is the eighth in a series published by Universities UK - the umbrella organisation for vice chancellors that examines trends in higher education .
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