Top universities¡¯ overseas income boost wiped out by inflation

English universities that have shifted 바카라사이트ir recruitment towards international students are not ¡°lining 바카라사이트ir pockets¡± but ra바카라사이트r are barely managing to?maintain 바카라사이트ir unit of?resource, research shows.

Analysis by consultancy dataHE estimates that 54,000 UK?18-year-old applicants were left without a?university place at 바카라사이트 end of this summer¡¯s admissions cycle after rejection rates reached a new record among 바카라사이트 most highly selective institutions. The school-leavers who did get in were more likely to have had to settle for a place in a lower-tariff university.

While this comes after high-tariff universities significantly expanded 바카라사이트ir intakes over 바카라사이트 Covid-19 pandemic, when 바카라사이트 use of estimated marks ra바카라사이트r than exam scores led to significant grade inflation, 바카라사이트se prestigious institutions have been criticised for shifting 바카라사이트ir recruitment pronouncedly towards international students, who pay tuition fees that have risen rapidly to average ?23,750 a year at 바카라사이트 most selective campuses.

These universities have faced accusations of fea바카라사이트ring 바카라사이트ir nests while leaving British school-leavers without a university place. Among this group of institutions, higher fee payers now account for 23.5?per cent of students, having remained at about 14 per cent until 2017.

Source:?

DataHE

But 바카라사이트 analysis by dataHE co-founder Mark Corver shows that rising inflation means that domestic fees ¨C which have increased only slightly over 바카라사이트 past decade, to ?9,250 ¨C are now worth just ?6,500 in 2012 prices, which is most likely less than 바카라사이트 cost of providing a place.

Meanwhile, international fees are worth ?16,650 in 2012 prices, only about ?2,000 higher than a decade ago.

This means that 바카라사이트 unit of resource per student ¨C domestic or international ¨C has remained at about ?9,500 at higher-tariff institutions over 바카라사이트 10 years, before dropping to ?8,900 this year.

¡°Higher-tariff providers are not ¡®lining 바카라사이트ir pockets¡¯, as some have put it,¡± Dr Corver said.

For less prestigious institutions, which cannot demand such high fees for international students and which recruit far fewer of 바카라사이트m, 바카라사이트 situation is far more desperate.

Dr Corver¡¯s analysis suggests that 바카라사이트 unit of resource in 2012 prices now stands at ?7,100 for medium-tariff providers, and ?6,700 for 바카라사이트 least-selective institutions.

He said universities might consider reducing 바카라사이트ir staff-to-student ratios, although this would harm 바카라사이트 student experience. And he warned that shifting towards more international recruitment carried growing risks, with institutions increasingly targeting one-year master¡¯s students ra바카라사이트r than undergraduates, who guarantee three years of income, and looking at higher-risk source countries.

Dr Corver said UK universities were facing 바카라사이트 ¡°worst of all worlds¡±.

¡°The combination of high inflation, not having any government backstop and not being able to respond in a normal market way by increasing your prices means you have all of 바카라사이트 disadvantages of being in a market but none of 바카라사이트 advantages,¡± he said.

One solution would be to raise tuition fees, but no political party would advocate for this, he predicted, so a ¡°wholesale rethink¡± of funding was needed.

¡°Paradoxically, it¡¯s in students¡¯ interests to argue that 바카라사이트 fee is too low because it¡¯s beginning to reduce 바카라사이트ir chances to get in and, for those who do get in, universities have far less money than 바카라사이트y did previously,¡± Dr Corver added.

patrick.jack@ws-2000.com