Income from students outside Britain and even the EU studying at British universities has more than doubled in the past decade. It now accounts for almost 10 per cent of universities’ total funding.
In 2009-10, universities’ total income was £22.2 billion. Over the 12-month period the amount of money received from foreign students went up by almost a fifth, from £1.8 billion to £2.1 billion.
Non-EU foreign students are charged fees up to eight times as high as British students. One university recorded 48.5 per cent of its income from foreign students.
British universities’ duty should be to educate and train British students. But universities are increasingly reliant on fees from foreign students to boost their finances, according to the Higher Education Funding Council. ■