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Foreign Students: UK Varsities May Fall Into Deficit, Says Report

Published

2 years ago

January 12, 2024

Many universities in the United Kingdom are at risk of falling into financial deficit due to the astronomical decline in international students after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s ban on bringing dependants into the country.

The PUNCH reports that the Home Office of the United Kingdom announced that it had commenced the implementation of its policy banning Nigerian students and other overseas students from bringing in dependants via the study visa route.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the Home Office reiterated that only those on postgraduate research or government-sponsored scholarship students will be exempted from the development.

“We are fully committed to seeing a decisive cut in migration. From today, new overseas students will no longer be able to bring family members to the UK. Postgraduate research or government-funded scholarships students will be exempt,” the Home Office said.

Meanwhile, Financial Times on Friday reported the chief executive of Universities UK, Vivienne Stern, who represents more than 140 universities, said the sector was facing the prospect of a “serious overcorrection” thanks to immigration policies that deterred international students from coming to study in Britain.

“If they want to cool things down, that’s one thing, but it seems to me that through a combination of rhetoric, which is off-putting, and policy changes . . .[they have] really turned a whole bunch of people off that would otherwise have come to the UK,” Stern told the Financial Times.

Stern’s plea came as it emerged that some top universities, including York, which is a member of the elite Russell Group, were being forced to soften their entry requirements in order to maintain numbers of overseas students.

“The government needs to be very careful: we could end up with, from a policy point of view, what I would consider a serious overcorrection,” she added.

With the £9,250 domestic tuition fee effectively frozen for the past decade, UK universities have increasingly relied on non-EU students to make ends meet, with fees from non-EU students now accounting for nearly 20 per cent of sector income.

Universities are warning privately that numbers have softened sharply this year following a series of hostile policy moves by the government, with indications that enrolments may have fallen by more than a third from key countries, including Nigeria and India.

One senior university insider told the FT that the sector as a whole had been “spooked” by data that showed the number of international students taking up places in January 2024 was “way below the bottom end of projections for everyone”.

In January, Sunak highlighted changes in government policy to stop international graduate students from bringing family members to the UK, adding the policy was “delivering for the British people.”

The government also announced in December that it was reviewing the so-called “graduate route” enabling international students to work in the UK for two years after they graduate and announced a crackdown on “low-value courses”, even though only 3 per cent are failing to meet criteria set out by the regulator.

Data from Enroly, a web platform used by one in three international students for managing university enrollment, showed that deposit payments were down 37 per cent compared to last year.

A new analysis for UK by consultants PwC found that the combination of falling international student numbers, frozen tuition fees, rising staff wage bills, and a softening in UK student numbers was leaving the sector facing a perfect storm.

“You take those things together, and you’ve got a big problem,” Stern said, warning that the government needed to wake up to the risk posed to a sector that contributes £71bn to the UK economy every year.

The PwC analysis was based on 2021-22 financial returns for 70 UUK members in England and Northern Ireland and found that about 40 per cent are expected to be in deficit in 2023-24, falling to 19 per cent by 2025-26.

However, Paul Kett, a former senior Department for Education official who now advises PwC on education, said the numbers reflected assumptions about spending and income growth that now looked highly optimistic given the policy environment.

The PwC analysis found that if the growth in international students stagnated in the 2024-25 academic year, the proportion of universities in the financial deficit would rise from 19 per cent to 27 per cent — but if numbers started to fall between 13 and 18 per cent then four-fifths would be in deficit.

On the other side of the ledger, it found that increasing fees by 10 per cent for UK undergraduates in 2024-25 would shrink the share of universities in deficit from 19 per cent to 7 per cent.

The report said the effects of declining international enrolments could be compounded by other negative shocks, such as a rise in spending growth or a fall in domestic student numbers. It warned that mounting financial pressure could force universities to cut provision and delay investment, compromising quality for students.

Stern argued three interventions were necessary to put the sector on a stable footing: uprating tuition fees in line with inflation, increasing government teaching grants and stabilising the international market by dialling down negative rhetoric and ending question marks over the graduate route.

“You can take these individual scenarios that PwC looked at, and think that any one of them could tip a large number of institutions into a very difficult position, but the problem is that lots of those things are happening at once,” she said.

Robert Halfon, higher education minister, said: “We are fully focused on striking the right balance between acting decisively to tackle net migration, which we are clear is far too high, and attracting the brightest students to study at our universities,” he added.

News

FG Security Agency, Nigerian Army Move To Tackle Illicit Small Arms, Light Weapons

Published

4 hours ago

August 27, 2025

Editor

The National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW), Northeast Zonal Centre, under the Office of the National Security Adviser to the President has partnered with the Nigerian Army to fight the menace of the proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons in the country.

Speaking during a courtesy visit to Brig.-Gen. U.V Unachukwu, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division, Nigerian Army Headquarters in Maiduguri on Wednesday, Maj-:Gen Abubakar Adamu (Rtd), the Northeast Zonal Coordinator, NCCSALW Northeast Zonal Centre, said the collaboration was necessary in mopping up Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) in the Zone.

While stating the negative impact the proliferation of illicit SALW has on peaceful coexistence in the nation and its socio-economic activities, Adamu pledged the Centre’s continuous cooperation with the Division especially in intelligence sharing which he said, was paramount in preventing the proliferation of this SALW in the country.

“One of our responsibilities is to prevent the proliferation of small Arms and Light Weapons and to also enlighten the people. We are a multi agency department and we have the police, the DSS, and also retired military officers as well as serving military officers.

“We have been empowered to receive all illicit small arms and light weapons that have been retrieved from all the agencies and we are the people responsible to destroy them

“We are also the only organization empowered to prosecute gun runners and all the people that have been arrested in terms of dealing with small arms and light weapons.

“What we are doing is to visit major stakeholders and to also share intelligence, information and to collaborate because we know without the armed forces, there is no way we can eradicate the proliferation of small Arms and Light Weapons,” he said.

He further commended the Nigerian Army for always being at the forefront in ensuring that country is safe for all to live in, promising to strengthen the partnership in order to further make the country a better place for all to live.

Responding, Brig.-Gen. U.V Unachukwu promised the Division’s support to the Zonal Centre so as to achieve its mandate while recalling the pass records of the Zonal Director as a result-oriented senior officer.

He also commended the Centre for working hand in hand with all the security agencies, traditional rulers and key stakeholders, adding that this would go a long way in mopping up and tackling the proliferation of illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons in the country.

News

Arrears: AAU Management Replies ASUU Over

Published

5 hours ago

August 27, 2025

Editor

The management of Ambrose Alli University Ekpoma has responded to a recent publication by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), AAU Chapter, alleging that the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sunday Olowo Samuel, claimed to have cleared all staff arrears.

A statement issued by Otunba Mike Aladenika, Principal Assistant Registrar and Head of Information, Protocol, and Public Relations, described the claim by ASUU as far from the truth.

Aladenika said the Acting Vice-Chancellor’s 31-paragraph address to journalists did not state that all outstanding salary arrears had been paid.

He noted that instead, the VC emphasized the administration’s commitment to gradual liquidation of these arrears.

According to the imagemaker of the university, the Vice-Chancellor, in his speech, rather highlighted prompt payment of salaries and pensions as a hallmark of his administration, and noted that the university had implemented the new minimum wage of N70,000 as soon as it was approved.

Aladenika questioned where ASUU got their information from, given the Acting Vice-Chancellor’s clear statements.

“It’s worth noting that when the current administration took over, ASUU members were owed over 35 months in arrears.

“However, the debt has since been reduced as those owed 35 months and above were paid 10 months emblock in the 1st tranch, while in the 2nd tranch, those owe 20-months and above were also paid 10 months salary arrears, emblock. Apart from individuals among them who got paid on personal requests, the payment of the backlogs is still ongoing as various applications on salary arrears are been attended to, demonstrating the management’s commitment to gradual payment.

“On the issue of the 13th month salary, it’s essential to clarify that this has never been a right, but rather a subject of tripartite negotiations between workers, management, and the state government. There has been no prior agreement or understanding on this matter, and it has always been a point of negotiation for our unions.

“It’s worth noting that the university has never paid 13 months’ salary in a 12-month financial year. However, this doesn’t mean that the management is opposed to negotiations on the matter. Rather, we believe that it’s essential to approach such discussions in a constructive manner, rather than using it as a bargaining chip for blackmail.

“The management is open to negotiations, but we urge all parties to engage in good faith and avoid misrepresentations.”

News

US Court Sentences Osun Monarch To Prison Over $4.2m Fraud

Published

5 hours ago

August 27, 2025

Editor

A United States District Court has sentenced the Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun State, Oba Joseph Oloyede, to four years and eight months imprisonment over a $4.2million COVID-19 relief fraud scandal.

Justice Christopher Boyko while delivering the sentence on Tuesday, also ordered the monarch to pay $4.2 million in restitution.

According Osun Defender, the monarch was also ordered to pay the sum of $195,000 to the IRS for filing a false tax return.

Justice Boyko also ordered Oloyede to forfeit $96,000 in money seized from his bank account and his home on Foote Road that he bought in 2021 for $130,000.

Boyko said Oloyede was a “very smart guy who did a lot of stupid things.”

Oba Oloyede, a US-based accountant and information system expert, was appointed the new Apetu in July 2019.

The monarch was arrested alongside alongside Nigerian pastor, Edward Oluwasanmi in early 2024 for their roles in a scheme to fraudulently obtain $4.2m in COVID-19 relief funds.

The two men were charged with 13 counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, and engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property.