UK Universities Face Financial Crisis Amid Drop in International Student Applications

Universities in the UK face financial issues as the number of international students applying for courses starting in the next academic year plunged, according to figures shared by the UK Home Office.

A report by the Guardian said that applications for sponsored study visas have fallen by 28%. It suggested that the downtrend could be due to the restrictions applied by the previous UK government that are hampering recruitment.

The UK Home Office said that it received 28,200 applications last month and compared with 38,900 applications in June 2023. The Guardian said that the sector will continue to struggle. Universities earlier hoped things would improve by September as most student visa applications are received over the summer.

The Guardian said, citing data taken from Enrolyfrom 31 universities in the UK, that there was a 41% decrease in the number of deposits and acceptances by international students up to the end of July.

Postgraduate taught master’s courses saw a high fall, registering a decrease of 55% compared with 2023. The data said that undergraduate numbers registered a fall of 23%.

International students enrolled in taught postgraduate or undergraduate courses have been unable to bring family members or dependents on a student visa, since January.

“Our UK university colleagues are working tirelessly to continue to attract international students to their programmes. One positive note is that the intake appears to be catching up month-to-month from a very slow start. It remains to be seen where the final year-on-year numbers for September will land,” Jeff Williams, the chief executive of Enroly, a service used by international students for managing university enrolments, said.

He highlighted that the international student recruitment is seeing a downward trend since the start of the year.

In 2021-22, over 240,000 full-time international students started their taught postgraduate courses and 104,000 started undergraduate programs. If Enroly’s data is accurate for the whole sector, around 150,000 fewer international students will arrive on UK campuses this autumn.

Many universities depend on the income from international tuition fees and with tuition fees for UK students staying frozen in England, experts warned this situation could spell trouble for the sector.