PHENOMENON OVERSEAS IN UK

PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION PROVIDERS

such as INTO, StudyGroup and Kaplan seem to be am Anglo-American and British phenomenon. These companies build and maintain global student recruitment networks combined with preparatory courses with guaranteed continuation at a designated partner university.

Having worked in this field for many years and having attended at many education fairs, I found that many UK universities were represented by such specialist companies, whilst continental universities were mostly directly represented by university representatives.

Universities commonly do not have the marketing resources and logistics for such promotional networks. At most of the fairs I attended, British and US universities were very well represented by such suppliers, European universities far less.

This additional level of higher education is related to how most universities in the UK are funded. Compared to tuition fees for international students in EU countries, England, Wales and Northern Ireland are many times higher.

According to the websites of the universities (08.12.2023), the tuition fees for an academic year for international students at the University of Stuttgart are 1,500 euros (ca. 1,300 £), at the University of Milan 2,632 US dollars (the same as for home students) and at the University of Barcelona 4,900 euros (ca. 4,300 £) on average.

Universities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland charge between £18,000 and £30,000 on average estimate), depending on the subject and course programme. Oxford University from £28,950 to £44,240. 

E.g. BA in architecture (K100) August 2023

Newcastle University £24,600

Unversity of Sheffield £26,950

Nottingham £26,500

Manchester £26.000

For a foreign student studying at any of these universities, studying is several times more expensive than at a university on the European continent. Nevertheless, the proportion of international students at a continental university is commonly significantly lower than at British universities.

What are the reasons for UK universities' popularity among foreign students and why is it so expensive?

MAIN FACTORS

1. Unique selling points of UK universities:

reputation, heritage, language and study experience

There appear to be two main factors contributing to the continued attractiveness of British universities, particularly universities in England.

As mentioned on many relevant websites, a key factor is its international reputation, backed by rich heritage and research recognition, and of course the English language.

A good degree from a reasonably well ranked UK university can guarantee good employment in the students' home country.

Recently, a pre-master's student from Nigeria told me that if he manages to get a master's degree from Newcastle University, it guarantees a good career (even if it's only 3rd class degree). Heritage and reputation combined with the experience of studying at a 'typical' British university is highly attractive.

2. International students are a key economic factor for university financing

In the last few decades, higher education in the UK has shifted from a state-funded to a mainly self-funded system. This represents a major shift in the political and ethical perception of higher education, away from a moral obligation to provide free education to the younger generation, towards a perception of higher education as an educational product.

Hence, a major reason why British universities continue to attract so many foreign students, despite exorbitant tuition fees, is the extensive marketing efforts, and the networks of these oriented private education providers.

The revenue of international tuition fees are a major source of income. Many universities depend on. Without this, many of the investments made in UK campus locations in recent years would not have been possible.  In addition, international students are an important factor in the local economy of cities with universities.

Likewise, the preparatory courses, which act as a feeder to the respective university, have similarly high tuition fees as those of the target university. However, these providers do not have the immense expenses for maintaining a complex university apparatus with expensive facilities, research funding and well-paid academic staff. More than half of the tuition fee is need for acquisition.