Student exodus
U.K. universities face declining enrolments due to Brexit
Growing up in a small Italian farming town, Andrea Guerini Rocco dreamed of pursuing a career in economics in a big, bustling city.
Three years ago, he thought that city would be London. He did his undergraduate studies at the London School of Economics, earning good grades and working analyst internships he was passionate about. He was able to afford the lowered tuition for European Union students - half what other international students pay - and he didn’t need a visa to work and live in Britain.
Britain’s vote to leave the European Union changed all that. When the country leaves the bloc in 2019, there’s no promise that the financial and immigration perks for incoming European students and workers will remain.
So after the Brexit vote, when Rocco was preparing to enrol in a master’s degree, he decided to move to Columbia University in New York instead.
Tuition is pricy and he’ll need more paperwork - but at least there’s clarity. He knows what he’s signing up for and can plan ahead.
“If Brexit was not happening I would have stayed in London,” the 22-year-old said. “The university is great. I love LSE.”
He isn’t alone in having to reassess his plans. More than 60,000 EU students attend British universities, bringing brain power for employers, diversity and more than 400 million
pounds ($518 million) of tuition money with them each year, on top of the 500 million pounds these universities receive in EU funding annually.
This year, EU applications to U.K. schools dropped for the first time in at least five years, by 5 per cent. More than 2,500 young, bright Europeans took their talents elsewhere, rather than face the uncertainties of Brexit.
The British government has promised that EU students starting before Brexit will pay reduced tuition prices and that they’ll stay visa-free until 2019
- and that’s about all they’ve promised. If the British government doesn’t provide clarity for EU nationals and EU education funding, U.K. universities could lose over 1 billion pounds a year and some of their top students. That’s fewer bright minds staying and contributing to the British economy after graduation, innovating and producing - and paying taxes - in Britain. Until the government tells young EU nationals what they can expect post-brexit, Britain’s education, financial and other crucial sectors may find themselves struggling to attract and retain the
talent needed to stay competitive. The Russell Group, which represents 24 U.K. universities, including LSE, Cambridge and Oxford, has repeatedly asked the British government to provide clarity for EU students, including assurances that they will be able to stay and work in Britain after graduation.
Some of the damage to Britain’s image as a welcoming environment seems to have already been done. Adrian Thomas, the director of communications at LSE, says that some of the applicants he’s spoken to were spooked by the focus on immigration in the Brexit debate.
Felix Heilmann, who is starting his second year at Oxford, was at home in Germany last year as he watched the Brexit referendum votes rolling in. He was prepping for his first year and had been excited to start studying at one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the world.
But that excitement turned to anxiety about how the referendum would affect his tuition, immigration status and social experience.
“There was a very big feeling of, ‘Am I still welcome?”’ Heilmann said.
While he hasn’t noticed any blatant discrimination at Oxford, he says EU students on campus are weighed down by the insecurity of their future options. He’s not sure if he’ll stay in the U.K. for graduate school, something he once took as certain.
If EU students no longer get the discounted tuition rates after Brexit, Heilmann and others like him will likely further their education at schools outside the U.K.
Stefano Caselli, Dean for International Affairs at Bocconi, one of Italy’s top schools for business, says their applicant numbers have been on the rise since last year.
He says Italian students who once flocked to the U.K. for a good education are now looking to earn a high quality degree at home, a trend that could rise faster if the prices of a school like LSE nearly doubles from 9,250 pounds ($12,062) to 18,408 pounds ($24,005).