ICEF Monitor – International students return net benefit of £2.3 billion to London universities
29 May 2015
London has more top-ranked universities than any other city in the world, and it consequently is a magnet for international students. A new report produced by the UK-based business advocacy group London First and PwC, London Calling: International students’ contribution to Britain’s economic growth, has found that the tuition fees paid by international students (£1 billion per year, or about US$1.5 billion) represent 39% of the total fee income of London’s universities and return a net economic benefit of £2.3 billion (US$3.5 billion) to the UK economy.
These are only some of the striking findings from the London Calling report, which aims to quantify the economic costs and benefits of international students in London. The report reveals a sharp disconnect between the financial and other benefits generated by international students in London and the UK’s immigration policies, the latter which consider international students “immigrants” and thus included in targets to reduce net migration to the country.
The expressed aim of the report is to present hard data about the economic impact of international students in order to convince politicians and policymakers to abandon the classification of international students as immigrants. The report advocates instead that the government consider international students to be temporary visitors, the approach used in Canada and Australia.
“Read the full article on ICEF Monitor” – Source: http://monitor.icef.com/2015/05/international-students-return-net-benefit-of-2-3-billion-to-london-universities/