UK VARSITIES FALLING INTO DEFICIT AS FOREIGN STUDENTS REDUCE — REPORT
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The decline in international students after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s ban on bringing dependants into the UK is causing many UK universities to face financial deficits.
The Home Office of the United Kingdom announced that it had commenced the implementation of its policy banning Nigerian students and other overseas students from bringing in dependants via the study visa route. The Home Office reiterated that only those on postgraduate research or government-sponsored scholarship students will be exempted from the development.
According to Financial Times, the chief executive of Universities UK, Vivienne Stern, stated that the sector was facing the prospect of a “serious overcorrection” due to immigration policies that deter international students from coming to study in Britain.
Universities have increasingly relied on non-EU students to make ends meet, with fees from non-EU students now accounting for nearly 20 per cent of sector income. However, numbers have softened sharply this year following a series of hostile policy moves by the government, with indications that enrollments may have fallen by more than a third from key countries, including Nigeria and India.
The government’s review of the “graduate route” enabling international students to work in the UK for two years after they graduate and the announced crackdown on “low-value courses” have further impacted the situation. Data from Enroly showed that deposit payments were down 37 per cent compared to last year.
A new analysis for UUK by consultants PwC found that the combination of falling international student numbers, frozen tuition fees, rising staff wage bills, and a softening in UK student numbers was leaving the sector facing a perfect storm.
The PwC analysis found that if the growth in international students stagnated in the 2024-25 academic year, the proportion of universities in the financial deficit would rise. Stern suggested uprating tuition fees in line with inflation, increasing government teaching grants, and stabilising the international market to put the sector on a stable footing.
Higher education minister, Robert Halfon, stated: “We are fully focused on striking the right balance between acting decisively to tackle net migration, which we are clear is far too high, and attracting the brightest students to study at our universities.”
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