One-third of the universities in the United Kingdom (UK) are undergoing a severe financial crisis. The reason is the government’s cap on local student fees. Thus, colleges rely on the fees paid by foreign students, who have no cap.
Indian students form the largest proportion of foreign students in the UK and have been paying exorbitant fees because of this policy. However, this scheme has to be mutually beneficial, which has not been the case. This is why applications to UK colleges from India, have dropped significantly in recent times.
But why isn’t this policy working? What is the gap? Here’s the full picture.
Why Are The UK Universities Undergoing A Financial Crisis?
The UK has been one of the most desirable destinations for students all across the globe, to pursue higher education. According to University UK, a collective group of 142 universities in the country, 4,46,924 sponsored study visas and 1,39,175 graduate-route visas were issued to main applicants in the year ending March 2024.
However, the institutes are now going through a massive financial crunch. Last academic year, about one-third of UK universities ran deficits. The reason is the presence of a fee cap for local students, which has not been relaxed for over a decade.
Last year, Robert Halfon, the minister for higher education, had decisively ruled out lifting the cap on tuition fees for local students, despite the warning signals of vice-chancellors, about the sharply declining funds. In an interview with Times Higher Education (THE), he said that although the universities were suffering from challenges, a spike in tuition fees was “just not going to happen, not in a million years”.
Fees for domestic students were capped at £9,000 in 2012 and increased only to £9,250 till 2017. Had the amount kept pace with inflation, it would have exceeded £12,000 today.
Therefore, the colleges rely heavily on fees paid by foreign students, which are not guarded by any kind of cap. These students pay almost double the tuition fee, compared to the local ones.
Because of this, the number of foreign students has plunged drastically in the past two years, further reducing the college funds. A report claims that a 16% drop in international applications is likely to reduce £1 billion in revenue of the education sector.
How Is This Affecting Indian Students?
According to the e-library of the House of Commons, India surpassed China in sending students for higher education in the UK, with 126,600 entrants in 2022-23.
This is how a fee hike for international students in the UK is impacting Indian students as they make up the largest share of foreign students in the country and the fees paid by them play a major role in subsidizing education for the local ones in the UK. While this policy was there for quite a long time, it is now producing rotten fruits because of further restrictions put on foreign students.
Read More: Are UK Colleges Allegedly Lowering Standards For Foreign Students Who Pay High Fees?
Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s stricter immigration policies are one of the main reasons for the financial crisis universities in the UK are facing. The policies by the previous government also discouraged foreign students from bringing their families with them and increased the salary threshold for work visas.
The numbers prove that the policies achieved their targets. In the first three months of 2024, international student visa applications fell by 44%, exacerbating the universities’ funding crisis.
Indian students going to the UK dropped by 23% this year while more than 3,500 UK study visas were withdrawn in the past six months.
What Policy Actions Are Required?
Hiking the fees of international students to subsidise that of domestic ones, and also maintaining college funds for infrastructure and capacity-development projects in the universities will only work if it is mutually beneficial for the payer and the receiver.
Owing to stricter regulations on overseas students, they are not able to get admission to high-ranked colleges, secure well-paying jobs, and pay off their student debts after getting work. This is why the numbers are falling.
According to a report by The Financial Times, a deficit of £5.3 billion was seen in research activities of universities in 2022-23.
A sustainable, well-managed set of solutions needs to be in place soon, such that the universities do not lose their global recognition and students do not feel a financial burden.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: The Guardian, The Economic Times, The Hindu
This post is tagged under: UK Colleges, Russell Group universities, Sunday Times, Sunday Times investigation, Sunday Times back door, Sunday Times recruitment, admissions standards, Universities UK, international students, international students uk, foundation courses, academic requirements, higher education, students, universities, UK universities
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