Overseas students set to become universities’ main source of income
TUITION fees from overseas students will soon overtake taxpayers as the main source of funding for Scottish universities, principals have warned.
The higher education umbrella body Universities Scotland said money from feepaying applicants from overseas was set to exceed Scottish Government spending.
Students living in Scotland get ‘free’ degrees but the number is capped, making universities increasingly reliant on overseas students, who can pay more than £30,000 a year.
The cash is helping to bail out universities struggling with cuts to research – but it has sparked concern over the sector’s reliance on funding from abroad.
In an evidence paper for Holyrood’s education committee, umbrella body Universities Scotland warns: ‘Cross-subsidy from international student fees is the only reason that under-funding hasn’t yet reached a critical point. But, without action, Scotland is approaching that.
‘Scotland’s funding model now bakes in a structural reliance on international fees to such an extent that this source of revenue is forecast to overtake Scottish Government funding as a percentage of the sector’s total income in 2023-24, reaching 27 per cent of the sector’s average income compared to 25 per cent for Scottish Funding Council (SFC) grants.’
The SFC is the government’s funding quango.
The evidence paper added: ‘Even without the perpetual risk of a geopolitical shock, the extent of cross-subsidy now jeopardises the quality of education, experience and support that universities are able to offer. When that happens, international students will exercise their choice to go elsewhere.’
Scottish Tory higher education spokesman Pam Gosal warned: ‘This report must act as a wakeup call for ministers to urgently rethink about how universities are funded, otherwise the pressures on their finances will become completely unsustainable.’
Professor Dame Sally Mapstone, principal of St Andrews University, said: ‘We appreciate the public finances are difficult but to continue to deliver a return for Scotland we need a longer-term plan for sustainable funding.’
Professor George Boyne, Aberdeen University principal and Universities Scotland’s funding policy group convener, warned that any further cuts to higher education will put at risk the ‘quantity and quality of our education and research’.
Higher Education Minister Jamie Hepburn said the Scottish
‘This must act as a wake-up call’
Government invests almost £1.9billion every year in colleges and universities.
He said: ‘We will continue to work closely with the SFC to deliver sustainable funding for our universities and colleges.’
An SFC spokesman said: ‘We continue to work with the sector through challenging financial times to distribute government funds in ways that support students, research and sustainability.’