One in six universities get over a third of their total income from overseas student fees, FactCheck analysis shows.
Our findings come as university leaders sound the alarm over a fall in international student recruitment – on which the sector has become increasingly reliant in recent years.
FactCheck takes a look.
Plugging the gap
Cuts in direct government funding have meant that tuition fees are now the sector’s main source of income.
Tuition fees used to make up around 64 per cent of universities’ total teaching income in 2012 – but this has since increased to over 90 per cent, according to Commons Library.
And there’s a limit on the amount universities can bill UK students. In England, that cap has been fixed at £9,250 since 2017 – despite significant inflation since then.
Meanwhile, institutions are free to charge foreign students much more – around £22,000 a year on average.
Financial vulnerability
FactCheck analysis of the most recent higher education financial data shows just how dependent many universities are on these international applicants.
On average, we find that universities get around 20 per cent of their total income – that’s all the money they receive from fees, grants, and everything else – just from international tuition fees.
And this figure is much higher for some universities.
We calculate that one in six universities get more than 33 per cent of their total income from overseas students.
And 14 universities we’ve identified get more than 40 per cent of their income this way.
Our analysis looks at data from the latest available financial year – in most cases, the year ending March 2023.
We haven’t included every single higher education provider in this analysis – just those which are subject to fee cap rules, and which can award degrees above Foundation level.
International students deterred?
University leaders have voiced their concerns in recent weeks about a drop in international students applying to the UK, and the impact this may have on their finances.
From January, the last government tightened the visa rules for foreign students, making it harder to bring family members to the UK. The stated aim of the policy was to reduce net migration to “sustainable levels”.
And government data suggests the policy may indeed have acted as a deterrent to some would-be applicants.
Compared to this time last year, 16 per cent fewer people have applied for a visa to study in the UK.
The Office for Students – the university regulator – recently called the dependence on international fees “an increasingly precarious model”.
And the regulator found that 40 per cent of English universities expect to run a budget deficit in the current academic year.
What will the government do?
The government didn’t respond to specific queries about whether or not they plan to reverse the last government’s policy on student dependants.
The Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has said that international students will always be welcome, and that they should be treated like “valued guests” rather than “political footballs”.
She said she wants to support universities to develop more international partnerships – but also said the government is “committed to managing migration carefully”.
