Unrest in Hong Kong has contributed to worsening relations between the U.K. and China (Photo by ... [+]
Universities in England have been warned they could be putting their financial stability at risk by relying too much on fee income from Chinese students.
China is the largest source of international students at U.K. universities, but relations between the two governments have come under increasing strain in recent months.
This raises the prospect of a sudden interruption to the supply of overseas students, and a corresponding loss in fee income, potentially putting the future of some universities at risk, according to England's higher education regulator.
The Office for Students (OfS)has written to 23 universities with high numbers of Chinese students, asking them to produce contingency plans in the event of a sudden loss of income.
“International students bring enormous economic, cultural and educational benefits to higher education in England,” said OfS chief executive Susan Lapworth.
“But we continue to have concerns that some universities have become too reliant on fee income from international students, with students from one country sometimes a significant part of the financial model.
“Universities must know what they would do if international recruitment fails to meet expectations. We have written to a number of institutions today to ensure they are alert to this risk, and have credible contingency plans in place to protect them from the consequences of a sudden reduction in their income.”
There are around 150,000 students from China studying at U.K. universities, making up more than a quarter of all non-E.U. students, making them a sizeable source of fee income.
At the University of Manchester, for example, which has one of the largest contingents of students from China, Chinese students make up almost half of all overseas students. Overseas students pay 55 per cent of all tuition fee income at Manchester, which in turn makes up half of the university's total income.
But there have been increasing concerns in recent years over the cost of recruiting students from China, notably the risk of political interference and compromises on academic freedom.
A House of Commons report warned that China was seeking to undermine academic freedom in the U.K. by influencing course content and who is invited to speak on campus.
Recent years have also seen the U.K. government take a more robust line in its dealings with China, fears over the implications of a trade imbalance and supply chain fragility bolstered by concerns over human rights in Hong Kong, the safety of Taiwan and accusations of genocide against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
Tensions were further inflamed last year after a pro-democracy protestor was dragged into the Chinese consulate in Manchester and beaten.
Liz Truss, who was briefly Britain's prime minister last year, provoked an angry response by the Chinese government when she called for an economic NATO to counter the threat posed by China on a visit to Taiwan last week.
For universities, the fear is that worsening relations could prompt China to dramatically scale back the number of students it sends to the U.K., a scenario highlighted in today's OfS report.
“Overreliance on international student recruitment is a material risk for many types of provides where a sudden decline or interruption to international fees could trigger sustainability concerns,” the report said.
“Such interruptions could result from, for example, a changing geopolitical environment, which could cause an immediate and significant impact on income.”
Universities U.K., the umbrella body for 140 universities, said the sector was aware of the danger of relying on a narrow funding stream, and had been working to diversify its student base.
While China remains the largest source of international students in the U.K., the steepest increase has been in the number of students from India, rising from around 15,000 to just under 90,000 over the last 10 years.
