Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised British universities would experience a “Brexit dividend “. However, two years after Brexit officially came into force the reverse would appear to be the case.
EU students have deserted the UK in droves as their preferred third-level education choice. They now look to other European countries such as Holland or Ireland where tuition fees are much lower.
Several European countries offer free tuition to EU students.These include Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Poland, and the Czech Republic.
UK Universities state that the number of EU students in the current academic year is down up to 50% on pre-Brexit figures. UCAS has said that applications have fallen by around 43%.
Post-Brexit EU students can no longer avail of the same fees as UK students. This applies to both undergraduate and graduate programmes. In addition, they are no longer entitled to apply for a loan to cover tuition fees.
UK students pay just over 9,000 pounds sterling a year.EU students are now subject to international fees which are considerably higher.
In the most select universities, these fees can run to anywhere from 22, 000 pounds sterling for an arts degree to a whopping 58, 000 sterling a year to pursue a degree in medicine.
The only EU students who can still avail of home fees are Irish nationals. They are entitled to do so as they belong to the Common Travel Area. There has been a 15% increase in the number of Irish nationals applying to select British universities in the current academic year.
The decrease in applications from EU students has hugely affected university revenues and resulted in a big drop in demand for university halls and private accommodation throughout the UK. This situation has been further exacerbated by the Pandemic.
Another side effect of this is that UK students can no longer be part of Erasmus exchange programmes and they will also likely be excluded from research programs funded by the EU.
