Academic inflation

International student fee revenue is growing much faster than the number of foreign students.

International students are contributing ever more to university incomes, according to figures published today by the Higher Education Statistics Agency. Fees from foreign students accounted for 12.1 per cent of income in 2012-13, up from 9.6 per cent in 2009-10.

The increase far outstrips the rise in the number of students who arrive from outside the EU. In 2012-13 non-EU fees income increased by 8.3 per cent but non-EU student numbers increased by only 0.9 per cent. Similarly in 2011-12 fee income increased 9.1 per cent while non-EU student numbers increased by only 2.7 per cent. And in 2010-11, fee income grew 12.4 per cent compared with 8.1 per cent numbers growth.