UK immigration rhetoric threatens university finances, warns sector rep

A fall in international student numbers is putting large numbers of universities at risk of falling into deficit, warned Vivienne Stern, the chief executive of Universities UK (UUK), which represents 142 higher-education institutions. 

Stern said that recent government rhetoric was deterring overseas students from studying in Britain.

“If they want to cool things down, that’s one thing, but it seems to me that through a combination of rhetoric, which is off-putting, and policy changes... [they have] really turned a whole bunch of people off that would otherwise have come to the UK,” she told the Financial Times.

Her comments followed the release of a PwC study, commissioned by UUK, that found up to 80% of higher education providers could fall into deficit over the coming years if there is ‘a gradual or sudden drop in international student numbers’.

Tuition fees for domestic students have remained capped at £9,250 since 2017 – a decline in real terms. This has forced universities to look elsewhere for income, and many have recruited large numbers of overseas students. Non-EU students now account for nearly 20% of income across the sector

But the government has promised a raft of restrictions on international students, in order to reduce record-high net migration figures.

Since the start of this year, new overseas students have been unable to bring family members to the UK, and in December, the Home Office announced it was reviewing the ‘graduate visa route’, which allows international students to remain in the UK for two years after graduation. 

“The government needs to be very careful: we could end up with, from a policy point of view, what I would consider a serious overcorrection,” said Stern.