EU Students Will Pay the Same Fees as UK Students after Brexit

The Brexit has left the United Kingdom in a state of turmoil and confusion. The whole nation is divided in their political and national views. However, the education system shows some mixed positive signals.

The recently launched Augar review has put forward propositions for changing the financial system of university education. One major proposition is the reduction in program fees in UK universities to £7,500.

proposal can be detrimental for universities as the funding from the government is not regular yet. With all the Brexit confusions, it can be universities taking the major L.

This is not the only shortcoming of Augar review report. The report failed to address the issue of varying fees for UK and EU students. This is a hot topic within the country at present and the Augar committee did not suggest any solution to this issue.

EU students currently pay the same fees as UK students. This rule is staying for now until 2020. EU students taking up 2020-21 programs will pay the same fees as the domestic ones. However, the future beyond that is very cloudy.

Prime Minister Theresa ruled out a new proposal stating that EU students will pay the same fees as international students after the Brexit. This means that all the courses starting in 2021 can be a lot more expensive for EU students. This is a proposal that is facing severe criticism by universities and opposition parties.

The proposed policy is yet to be applied and its future is uncertain. With the Prime Minister stepping down this year, these policies can be changed by the new political party in the power.

The problem is that the whole scenario is not communicated properly to EU students by the UK government. Forty percent of EU students believe that they will be charged higher fees from this year. Other students do not have clarity about the post-2020 period. Many EU students believe that the new policy is final and can not change in the future.

This entire situation may harm the universities and cost them huge revenues. The Augar review panel states that they reviewed the risk of a reduction in international students and expects the revenues to be balanced with domestic students.

Universities, however, are not looking for half measures. Universities need an aggressive policy to attract international students. It is a good take for the whole economy too. Instead of trying to compensate revenues with insufficient funding, universities want to increase revenues by welcoming EU and global students.

Alistair Jarvis, chief executive of Universities UK, said that reduction in fees for domestic students will force universities to increase batch sizes and reduce quality education. The reduced education quality combined with higher fees for foreign students will destroy the reputation of UK universities for competitiveness and education.

EU students are rethinking their choice of studying in the UK. The reasons can be attributed to lack of communication and a probable rise in educational fees from 2021.

The Theresa government will be remembered for introducing some tough educational policies. UK universities are now keeping high hopes from the next administration for bringing sustainable changes beneficial for the global competency of the educational industry.