News
Burnham open to cutting university fees for EU students as Brexit bargaining chip
Several news outlets are reporting that the new Prime Minister is willing to bow to EU demands that reset talks cannot go ahead if the Youth Mobility Scheme does not include EU students being charged tuition fees at the home rate of £9,790 per year, rather than the international student rates (typically £15,000 to £65,000 a year, depending on the course). As we have noted before, this would be a very costly concession.
The Russell Group of British universities has estimated that the loss of income and unrecovered costs to the UK's higher education sector from discounting the tuition fees could be as high as £580m per year. The top UK universities are already full-to-bursting by accepting more domestic students to maintain their income levels after international student numbers have fallen. Finding additional spaces for EU students could mean British students missing out on places or numbers becoming even more overcrowded.
Further costs to HM Treasury would include the possible greater loss on unpaid student loans by EU students who leave the UK after graduating and fail to pay off their debts. The issue of financing discounted tuition fees to EU students would therefore add to the mounting pressures on the new Chancellor as he prepares his October Budget.
You can read the Russell Group report here.
