The Independent Online.
International aid money set aside to help impoverished and war-torn countries should be used to bring overseas students to the UK post-Brexit, a university academic has suggested.
Len Shackleton, a professor of Economics at the University of Buckingham, said the higher tuition fees currently asked of foreign students is “extortionate” and should be scrapped altogether to encourage applicants.
Instead, the Government should take money from the Department for International Development (Dfid) to recruit candidates and enable student mobility.
Bright, underprivileged students from across the globe could be funded to study in the UK, and young Brits should also be given access to loans if they wish to study abroad.
Presenting the ideas at an education conference at the University of Buckingham, he said: “We’ve got Dfid sitting on huge sums of money – why not direct some of it towards bringing third world students to UK universities?”
In order to “plug holes”, any leftover funding should be available to promote research collaborations anywhere in the world, he added.
He later told The Independent: “We’re committed to spending 0.7 per cent in GDP every year and we can’t spend it.
“It ends up in corrupt payment, in schemes that don’t do anything, in consultancy fees which run into the millions of pounds.
“Why not divert some of that money to perhaps having two-stage fee levels for different countries. Certainly it would compensate in a way for the things that are happening [to higher education] by opening out to the wider world the opportunity of studying in the UK.”
His comments follow on from frequently voiced concerns among industry members about the future of the UK’s reputation as a hub for higher education and research.
Orhun Bergel 