Teresa May’s hard line on international students will rob us of income and talent

International students at Tianjin Medical University, China. Foreign students are increasingly choosing alternative destinations to the UK. Photograph: Yue Yuewei/Xinhua Press/Corbis

If life wasn’t hard enough for UK universities in the competitive international student marketplace, the home secretary, Teresa May, has just made things worse.
Britain is competing in a global race for growth and prosperity. In education we have a world-leading sector, one that overseas governments, international sponsors, students and their parents recognise and are willing to pay good money to benefit from, and in doing so contribute some £18bn a year to the UK economy.
                  Yet May clearly thinks there are too many international students in the UK and wants to limit their number. Last week, she suggested “universities should now develop sustainable funding models that are not so dependent on international students”.
There are many merits in adopting a tougher stance on immigration, and universities cannot ignore public opinion or the mandate of elected ministers. But seeking a blanket reduction in the number of international students for this purpose is what Sir Humphrey might have called “brave”. The Tories, elected as the party most trusted on the economy, could be in danger of cutting off their nose to spite their face.
             The government’s long-term economic plan involves cutting the deficit, encouraging growth, creating jobs, boosting productivity and increasing exports.

UK universities contribute to all of these. The Treasury and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), which oversees universities, appear to understand this and recognise the benefits of education exports in particular. Indeed, universities minister Jo Johnson has backed plans to increase foreign earnings to £30bn a year by 2020 – an ambitious target, even if the government is not working against itself. And the sector is already facing numerous barriers it must overcome.
The UK’s record of joined-up government is not particularly strong. In recent years, there has been an annual ratcheting up of immigration regulations, making it harder and more expensive for British universities to attract the best students in what is becoming an ever more competitive international market.
It’s no wonder that some prospective students are choosing alternative destinations for their studies. More and more universities across the world, seeking to benefit from the market for English-language higher education, are now offering courses taught wholly in English and with generous financial incentives.
With increased international competition and regulatory headaches, UK universities have already seen the financial margins on international student recruitment reduce. These margins, we should remember, support university research and the teaching of British students, the costs of which are principally borne upfront by the taxpayer.

Of course, this isn’t just about money. The international student population in British universities has become increasingly imbalanced, impacting on the international as well as domestic student experience. A quarter of the UK’s total annual international student intake comes from one country: China. At master’s level, it’s almost one-third. Over the past five years, the number of international students at UK universities has stagnated and the number of those from the Indian subcontinent has halved. Meanwhile, the UK’s biggest competitors – the US, Australia, Canada and Germany – all saw increases and have ambitious strategies for growth.

                If we’re not careful, the UK, its universities and the economy will miss out on the financial benefits international students bring and, just as important, the benefits of having the best students in the world study in Britain. But we also risk losing the longer-term benefits gained through the relationships established by international students with their UK counterparts, their lecturers and British society more widely.
This is not just a problem for universities. Britain is already beginning to miss out on some of the positive long-term economic and cultural ties created when students of different nationalities live and study together. Aside from aiding integration at home, British soft power, international influence and global reputation abroad can all begin on campus.
                 The government’s position is particularly troubling because it is based on notoriously unreliable data. Net migration figures are calculated from the International Passenger Survey, which is woefully inadequate at tracking where international students end up. The official statistics suggest many more settle in the UK than is actually the case.
Even on the basis of current figures, the government could choose the approach favoured by many other countries, by removing international students from its headline immigration figures. That would allow UK universities to pursue the government’s targets on education exports, without adding to the headache of reducing net migration to below 100,000 a year. This would seem to provide both the political and economic results the government wants, yet it’s a happy compromise that’s so far been overlooked.
                   Despite constant statements from ministers that “genuine” international students, the “brightest and the best” are welcome, the reality has been different. The latest message from May is telling and the façade of rhetoric is beginning to fade.