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Schools have already lost millions of pounds thanks to forced closings, and things could get even worse.
Classroom. Image: Pixabay.
LONDON – With conferences canceled and admissions impacted by a lack of rent for student accommodation, British universities are recovering from the global coronavirus pandemic.
Schools have already lost millions of pounds thanks to forced closings, and things could get even worse.
“British universities are under very severe stress from the crisis,” Nick Hillman, director of the think tank of the Institute for Higher Education Policy (HEPI), told AFP.
The national closure that forced universities to close in late March has cost £ 790 million ($ 990 million, € 909 million), according to the representative body Universities UK (UKK).
And the next academic year could be even worse if international students, who pay higher tuition fees, stay away or are affected by movement restrictions.
“The potential impact is extreme,” said UKK, which has asked the government for £ 2bn in aid.
Without it, they warned that some institutions risked having to drastically downsize or risk closing down.
FINANCIAL LIFE
Britain is the second most popular university destination for foreign students after the United States. In 2018-2019, one in five students in the country came from abroad.
Of a total of 485,645 foreign students, almost 343,000 came from outside the European Union. Of these, 120,385 came from China.
International students are a financial lifesaver for British universities, which often pay double the £ 9,250 a year in fees for EU citizens and their British counterparts.
Longer courses like medicine attract even higher fees.
Vivienne Stern, director of the UKK international branch, said the universities earned £ 6 billion in tuition.
Foreign students accounted for at least 17% of that.
“In some universities, the proportion of total income that comes from international student fees is greater than that. But for most universities it is an important source of income,” he added.
A report by the London Economics consultancy in April for the University and College Union estimated that all foreign students (EU and non-EU) were 47% less likely to enroll in their first year in the UK in 2020-2021 compared with 2018-2019.
For British students, the figure was 16%.
That could threaten up to 30,000 direct jobs and more than 32,000 in the local economy that depend on the university sector.
“It will affect teaching within universities because many courses are only economically viable due to the presence of international students,” said Hillman of HEPI.
“And it will also affect research at British universities, because when British universities get research funds from governments, charities or companies … you never get 100% of the costs of your research.”
“You have something like three-quarters of the costs of your research, and the other quarter is made up of international student fees.”
PARADOX
Hillman described the situation as a paradox, as some universities are at the forefront of global efforts to find a coronavirus vaccine and drug treatments.
The University of Oxford, which is at the forefront of human vaccine trials, has announced a 12-month hiring freeze.
The University of Manchester, one of the largest in the country, has also slowed hiring and cut its managers’ salaries by 20%.
Manchester President and Vice Chancellor Nancy Rothwell said they couldn’t rule out job losses.
“It is possible … that we may lose up to 80% of all our international students and 20% of our European students,” he said in a statement.
“This will result in a loss of more than £ 270 million in one year.”
To mitigate losses, the university is considering the sale of assets and postponing the date for the resumption of courses normally scheduled from September.
The Ministry of Education said in response that universities were eligible for emergency government rescue plans, including wage coverage to prevent layoffs.
Despite the crisis, UKK’s Stern is trying to be optimistic.
“We have an opportunity to get … a really good online offer that I think will have a lasting legacy,” he said.
“And it could be a really powerful way to extend opportunities to study at university to people who probably cannot afford the traditional model of flying to the other side of the world and living away from home for a long period.”
“So I hope there are some benefits.”
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