June 19, 2022

English Universities Over Reliant on International Students According to MPs

A A new report prepared by British MPs have found that English universities are heavily reliant on international students. The Public Accounts Committee stated in a report released on June 15 that it is sceptical that the Office for Students, a Department of Education-sponsored regulator, is capable of dealing with these challenges.

The study conducted by the committee looked at the financial viability of England's higher education industry. The study found that there are "systemic, long-term challenges" that might negatively impact student experience in the UK.

…too many providers are too heavily dependent on overseas student fees to maintain their finances, research base and provision – that is not a satisfactory situation in a sector that government is leaning on to boost the nation’s notoriously, persistently low productivity…

Publicly financed teaching and research is now subsidised through fees from foreign students, implying that financial sustainability is contingent on ongoing expansion in the number of international students.

MP Meg Hillier, chair of the committee, said in a statement, “Too many providers are too heavily dependent on overseas student fees to maintain their finances, research base and provision – that is not a satisfactory situation in a sector that government is leaning on to boost the nation’s notoriously, persistently low productivity”.

The percentage of higher education providers who spent more than they earned in tuition in a given year grew to 32% in 2019-20 from 5% in 2015-16, according to data examined by the committee.

Refuting the study, Charley Robinson, head of global mobility policy at Universities UK Overseas, responded to the study by saying that financing is a "complicated picture" and that international fees are "only one component of that."

Posted in News and tagged News, UK, England, Public Accounts Committee, English Universities, International Students, Higher Education
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