Sharp fall in foreign students
Universities are experiencing a dramatic dip in the number of students from Asia enrolling on post-graduate courses, endangering the financial viability of some science departments. The number of students from China signing up to courses has fallen by about 50 per cent at some British institutions, according to a survey from Universities UK, the umbrella body for higher education. Admissions departments say there has been a greater decline in recruiting to post-graduate research posts and courses than to undergraduate programmes.
Recruitment from China, Japan, Malaysia, India, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore, as well as the US, Norway and Turkey, has been adversely affected by increased visa extension costs and bad publicity surrounding changes to the immigration regime as well as the strength of sterling, UUK said.
The association called for the British government to follow the US, which last month abandoned tighter anti-terrorist immigration policies after Ivy League and state universities experienced recruitment difficulties.
Students from outside the European Union provide ￡1.25bn in tuition fees, and 7 per cent of the total higher education budget, according to UUK. Many institutions have become increasingly dependent on this income. International students from outside the EU, as well as post-graduates, can be charged high tuition fees as the government sets fee levels for only British undergraduates terms that now apply to any EU citizens.
Financial pressures last month led Oxford to announce a decision to expand overseas and postgraduate numbers and reduce British and European undergraduate teaching. Other institutions are following suit.
Some vice-chancellors have been warning their colleagues not to be complacent about a constant stream of students heading for the UK.
Last week provisional figures from UCAS, the university applications service, showed a 5.3 per cent decline in recruitment of international students to undergraduate courses, with enrolments from China a sharp 25.8 per cent down.
UUK's own survey, distributed to members yesterday, shows there are even greater difficulties for some institutions in meeting their targets for recruiting international postgraduate students.
More than 50 per cent of universities who responded to the survey had missed their targets for international recruitment at the beginning of this academic year. Prof Robert Boucher, vice-chancellor of Sheffield university and UUK's spokesman on international recruitment, said endangered science departments at some universities would become unviable without the work and fees of overseas researchers.
“Post-graduate is in many ways the most important strategic sector,” he said.
英国：外国留学生人数剧减
目前，英国各大学攻读研究生课程的亚洲学生人数急剧下降，从而导致一些大学理科学院因财务问题，面临是否能够继续生存的问题。
据高等教育行业机构英国大学联合会(Universities UK)的一项调查称，英国一些大学机构登记学习各项课程的中国学生人数已下降约50%。各录取部门表示，与本科课程相比，研究生研究岗位和课程录取人数降幅更大。
英国大学联合会表示，由于延长签证成本上升，有关移民政策变化的宣传不利，再加上英镑币值坚挺，来自中国大陆、日本、马来西亚、印度、台湾、泰国和新加坡，以及美国、挪威和土耳其的录取学生人数已受到影响。
该联合会呼吁英国政府仿效美国的做法。由于美国常春藤名校和各州立大学招生面临困难，美国上月已放弃了规定较严的反恐怖主义移民政策。
据英国大学联合会数据，来自欧盟外的学生交纳了12.5亿英镑学费，占高等教育预算总额的7%。许多院校已越来越依赖这种收入。
由于政府只对英国本科生设定学费标准（这些标准现在也适用于任何欧盟国家公民），所以能向欧盟外留学生和研究生收取高学费。
迫于财政压力，牛津大学上月宣布，决定扩大外国学生和研究生人数，并减少英国和欧洲大学本科生人数。其它院校也在效仿此举。
一些副校长们一直在警告他们的同僚，不要因持续不断的赴英生源而感到自满。
上周英国大学院校入学委员会(UCAS)的初步数据显示，大学本科课程留学生招生下降5.3%，中国生源入学人数急剧下降25.8%。英国大学院校入学委员会是英国的大学申请服务机构。
