r/Glasgow Tools

Title
Author	_Cicero
Comment	TL;DR: The funding model for Scottish Universities forces them to invest in attracting international students, which as EU applications have dropped off has led to a focus on markets like China. It also has other harmful effects, incentivising Universities to constantly cut costs and invest in areas other than education and research. Universities in Scotland are dependent on international students to make ends meet. They get £1,820 p/a in funding from Scot Gov for each Scottish undergraduate. Keep in mind that funding hasn't changed since the new system was introduced by the SNP in 2007 - since then prices (per the [CPI](https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/timeseries/l522/mm23)) have increased by around 38%. So the funding Universities get for Scottish students has rapidly fallen in real terms. rUK students pay £27,750 over the lifetime of their degree - so for four year, that ends up being around £6,937 p/a. International students pay substantially more. At GSoA, for example, an international undergrad will pay £20,400 in 2022/23. International students in Glasgow's College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences' clinical programmes will be paying £52,000 in the coming year. As I understand it, Universities in Scotland make substantial losses on home students, and might break even on rUK students. But they're heavily dependent on international students and yes, that means significant investment in getting students in from overseas. As the number of EU student applications has declined, the focus has had to move to further afield (e.g. China). There are other knock-on effects of this system, including enormous uncertainty over how much income a University (especially outwith Scotland's ancient / Russell Group Unis) can expect each year. So they're constantly looking to cut costs or find other ways to preserve value (investing in real estate).
Reddit Link	https://www.reddit.com/r/glasgow/comments/v62308/chinese_students_at_gsoa/ibd7mgs/
Created	Mon 6th Jun 2022 2:54pm
Status	normal ()

**TL;DR**: The funding model for Scottish Universities forces them to invest in attracting international students, which as EU applications have dropped off has led to a focus on markets like China. It also has other harmful effects, incentivising Universities to constantly cut costs and invest in areas other than education and research.

Universities in Scotland are dependent on international students to make ends meet. They get £1,820 p/a in funding from Scot Gov for each Scottish undergraduate. Keep in mind that funding hasn't changed since the new system was introduced by the SNP in 2007 - since then prices (per the [CPI](https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/timeseries/l522/mm23)) have increased by around 38%. So the funding Universities get for Scottish students has rapidly fallen in real terms.

rUK students pay £27,750 over the lifetime of their degree - so for four year, that ends up being around £6,937 p/a.

International students pay substantially more. At GSoA, for example, an international undergrad will pay £20,400 in 2022/23. International students in Glasgow's College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences' clinical programmes will be paying £52,000 in the coming year.

As I understand it, Universities in Scotland make substantial losses on home students, and might break even on rUK students. But they're heavily dependent on international students and yes, that means significant investment in getting students in from overseas. As the number of EU student applications has declined, the focus has had to move to further afield (e.g. China). There are other knock-on effects of this system, including enormous uncertainty over how much income a University (especially outwith Scotland's ancient / Russell Group Unis) can expect each year. So they're constantly looking to cut costs or find other ways to preserve value (investing in real estate).