Brexit: in English universities EU students will have to pay more from 2021

Steph Deschamps / June 29, 2020

European Union students wishing to study at a university in England will have to pay higher tuition fees, like other foreign students, as of the start of the academic year in 2021 due to Brexit, the British government announced on Tuesday.

International students represent an important source of income for British universities. They often pay double (or more in the most prestigious establishments) the 9,250 pounds owed by the British, and also so far, by EU students.

Following the UK's exit from the EU at the end of January, nationals of the EU, other countries of the European Economic Area and Switzerland "will no longer be eligible" for the financial conditions granted to British students "for courses starting during the 2021-2022 academic year," said Secretary of State for Universities Michelle Donelan in a written statement to the House of Commons.

These foreign students who start university studies in 2020-2021 are not affected by this increase, nor are Irish nationals, she said.

As education is the responsibility of each region, this measure only concerns England and does not apply to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

British universities are facing a significant shortfall since the start of the new coronavirus pandemic. They fear that the next academic year will be even worse if the lucrative international students sulked because of the crisis.

In 2018-2019, one in five students was a foreigner in the United Kingdom, the second preferred university destination behind the United States, according to their representative organization, Universities UK (UKK).

Regarding British participation in the European Erasmus student exchange program, the government has said it wants to continue to participate after Brexit, but added that negotiations are still ongoing with Brussel