EVIDENCE that some top-ranking universities are willing to accept applicants from China and India who are less well qualified than those from the UK has emerged from a Sunday Times investigation, write Geraldine Hackett and Max Colchester.

 

The findings suggest that cash-strapped universities are bending the rules to admit international students who, unlike British students, pay the full £27,000 fees for an arts degree.

 

Admission tutors for different undergraduate courses at Edinburgh, Manchester and Sheffield said they would be prepared to accept an

international applicant who had failed to achieve the normal A-level requirements for their course.

 

The tutors — who thought they were talking to the guardian of a 17-year-old Chinese student studying A-levels at a top private boarding school in England — said international students did not always have to meet the academic rules that applied to other applicants.

 

One vice-chancellor, who did not want to be identified, said overseas students were displacing home students at some of the top universities which did not physically have the space to expand. “The government has created a perverse incentive that means international students bring in more money than UK students,” he said.

 

Oxford University is reducing its intake of home and European Union students from 11,000 to 10,000, while increasing overseas numbers from 8% to 15% by 2010. It insists that its motive is not financial but to increase the calibre of its students.

Universities earn far less from UK and European students even with the government grant and fees of £9,000 for a three-year degree.

 

International students generate more than £2 billion a year in fees for higher education, but universities state publicly that foreign students have to be as good as other potential undergraduates.

 

The answer to this is simple - it's about money at the end of the day - EU and UK students are protected by a law that says that Universities can only charge a certain amount, for "Overseas" students (which would include not only Chinese or Indian, but also American, Canadian, etc...), it is up to three times the cost for them to take exactly the same degree as an EU or UK student... It's a shameless rip-off at the end of the day, but it is almost entirely of the making of both this and the previous Govt with their Higher Education "reforms".. For a Masters degree it is even worse - average an EU or UK student pays is £4500, an Overseas student is being fleeced to the tune of almost £15,000 in some of the more prestigious "red brick" universities....

 

This unidentified Vice Chancellor is absolutely correct in what he is saying, I went to University, I know this to be the fact, because I know how much my fellow students from non-EU countries were paying to study their degrees... This is not exactly a new thing though, it's been going on for about the past 4 or 5 years at least, and more than likely before I started going to Uni... It's really all down to the facts that when the Govt started bringing in the whole "tuition fees" thing, the problem began to become more and more exacerbated, and now it is getting to the point where Unis are favouring Overseas students purely on a financial basis... It's not fair on the indigenous and EU students, it's not fair on the Overseas students who are paying a lot more than their UK counterparts....

 

The bloke from Oxford University is talking complete and utter sh!te, of course money is a factor, the evidence is bloody obvious.....

 

This is totally shameful, but it's not a new phenomenon..... Of course, don't expect our "wonderful" Nu Labor Govt to do a fukkin' thing about it, seeing as how they are majorly responsible for the existence of the problem in the first place.... And we all know just how good they are at admitting mistakes don't we....? <_< <_<

 

That's really unfair that they'd accept someone without proper qualifications over someone who has actually got a-levels.

It's unfair for both english students because they didn't get in for a stupid reason and bad for the chinese students because they have to pay so much more!

How much do you think all those lecturers etc cost???

 

I totally agree with foreign student paying the FULL cost of their education. I am not subsidising some cocky canadian!!!

 

BUT it should not be at the expense of home students who have got the qualifications.

 

BUT then maybe it is only way to balance the books - and without those foreign students UK stidenst may not have places anyway???