Brexit: What about me? What about the EU students in the UK?
There is currently 125,000 EU students at British universities, who generate more than £3.7 billion for the economy.
As June 23 looms many European students are wondering how it would affect them if the “Yes” vote wins. I’m also one of these students, as my home country is Estonia. According to Article 18 of the TFEU, all member countries can’t discriminate on the basis of nationality within the EU. This means that EU students pay the same tuition fee as the resident students of the country they study in.
But if “Yes” vote goes through, EU students have to start paying same fees as other international students. Current fees for them are up to £30,000 per year, depends on which university you would study in. Right now Europeans have the right to apply for tuition fee loan from UK but that would right would be taken away as well, because international students are not eligible for UK Student Loans.
I talked to Niclas Meyer, a German who currently studies in the UK, about what he thinks about Brexit.
As a student from Estonia, where a minimum hourly pay is 2.54€ (about £1.90) it’s hard to even cover accommodation without help of my parents, never mind paying the tuition fee from our own pocket in the future. As if plane tickets to visit my home country during holidays aren’t expensive enough, I would also have to pay for visa, which is £322 for a student.
For the students, who would start in couple of years, the “Yes” vote would make applying to universities a lot harder. Exiting the EU wouldn’t necessarily mean that enrolment would drop to zero, but it would be seriously affected. Many of those students would look to other English speaking countries like Australia, USA and Canada.
What it means for the universities…
Besides being atrocious for European students, exit from the EU would be catastrophic for the universities as well.
UK universities can currently access teaching and research funding from the UK government to support the cost of delivering programmes to UK and EU students. No Government money is given to universities for international students. But if the Brexit would go through, EU students would be considered international and universities would lose that subsidy.
Also, research funding from EU to UK universities is worth £1bn a year, boosting the quality of research, helping the economy and allowing British academics get international experience. Losing that amount of money is going to be a big blow for the whole university sector.
Current situation is easier for highly qualified staff to work in British universities. As the tweet below shows, more and more academic posts in the UK universities are covered by Europeans.
Not only do EU students bring in a lot of money for the economy, but they support more than 34,000 jobs across the country and the rising number of them starting their studies in next few years could double the figures in the future.
Many nationalities studying in the UK don’t only bring much needed investments, but it also builds links between UK and the rest of the world, for example supporting international trade.
Not only do European students benefit from staying but also UK students are able to take part of University Study Abroad schemes, like Erasmus, thanks to EU.
I asked British students what are their thoughts on Brexit and which vote do they support.
Despite leaving, UK covers top 3 of the best universities in Europe, which means that it would still be an attractive destination for European students if the “Yes” vote would go through. Sadly, it would be a luxury for those of wealthy background, not those with excellent knowledge and potential.
The Brexit talk hasn’t stopped students from EU applying for next academic year, as number of their applications have risen 6% since last year.
To make your voice heard, you have to register here before 7 June to vote on 23 June.
