Overseas cash injection rises

A Times Higher report reveals that UK universities are becoming more reliant on foreign fees, writes Tony Tysome.

Manchester University has become the biggest earner of income from overseas students in the UK, knocking the London School of Economics off the top spot, an analysis by The Times Higher has revealed.

In 2004-05, Manchester earned £47,263,000 from fee-paying students from outside the European Union - £2 million more than the LSE and just Pounds 1.5 million less than the whole of Wales, latest figures supplied by the Higher Education Statistics Agency show.

Prior to their merger two years ago, the combined international fee income of Manchester and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology was smaller than that of the LSE, which was then making more than £40.8 million in this increasingly lucrative market.

A Manchester spokesman said that the university aimed to treble annual growth in its income from overseas students in real terms by 2015. He said:

"Our income levels reflect the size of our international student population. The internationalisation of the student body also helps to enrich the learning experience for all our students."

Across the UK, income from overseas students rose from £1.09 billion to £1.4 billion between 2002-03 and 2004-05 - a 28 per cent increase.

In the same period, some institutions have made very significant gains, overtaking many of the more established players in the overseas income league table.

Most institutions became more dependent on their earnings from overseas students, with some more than doubling the proportion of their total income coming from this source.

The Times Higher analysis shows that Warwick University has made the most ground over the period, jumping from 20th to sixth place in the league table. In the process, it overtook big hitters such as Leeds, Cambridge, Sheffield and Oxford universities.

By 2004-05, Warwick was earning £32.8 million from overseas student fees - more than double its overseas income in 2002-03. Its overseas student population rose to 5,535 - the biggest in the country, topping Manchester's by 135.

A Warwick spokesman said: "We do not want to be dependent on government income in order to ensure that our students and staff have the best experience possible. There is a risk in this, but we have shown we take acceptable risks."

Cardiff University climbed nine places to 17th in the league table, bringing in over £21 million from overseas student fees in 2004-05 - representing 43 per cent of the Welsh sector's total international fee income.

Meanwhile, London Metropolitan University rose five places to join Westminster as only the second new university to make it into the top 20 international money-spinners - though Westminster dropped from 12th to 15th place.

Notable gains were also made by Oxford Brookes University, rising seven places to 22nd, and Northumbria, up eight to th.

Newcastle, Birmingham and Surrey universities all dropped out of the top 20 in 2004-05, with Newcastle falling seven places since 2002-03 to 23rd, Birmingham slipping six places to 21st, and Surrey dropping five places to 24th.

The analysis also reveals the extent to which institutions are becoming increasingly reliant on income from overseas students.

By 2004-05, fees from overseas students at Glamorgan University represented 6.9 per cent of its total income - a 115 per cent increase compared with 2002-03.

Meanwhile, the proportion of Warwick's income from overseas rose by 61 per cent. Aston, a smaller university, saw a 58 per cent increase in the slice of its overseas income in the same period.

Across the sector in 2004-05, ten institutions derived more than 15 per cent of their total income from overseas students, and 26 brought in more than 10 per cent of their income from this source.

Many institutions admitted these changes were the result of a concerted effort to increase overseas revenue as a proportion of their total income, even though they acknowledged that this exposed them to greater risk in a volatile market.

David Packham, Aston's secretary and registrar, said his institution was aiming to increase the international proportion of its student population from 17 to 25 per cent by 2015.

He said: "With home students graduating with such high debt levels, it is getting harder to recruit postgraduates. We are hoping overseas students will fill the gap."

A Universities UK spokesman said vice-chancellors were "acutely aware" that overseas recruitment was a volatile income source.

But he added: "The key to our success will be ensuring that we continue to recruit from a diverse range of countries."

tony.tysome@thes.co.uk