UK universities to expand their campuses to India in bid to resolve financial worries

More and more universities are seeking to expand their campuses into India amid declining international student recruitment, despite employees and unions’ concerns over redundancies.

Universities in the UK attracted over 125,000 students from India in the academic year 2022-2023, but study visa applications are declining, and experts warn that universities may have to consider a world without international students.

By expanding campuses to India, universities hope to access both a less competitive market and significant numbers of students unable to afford international education. 

The University of Southampton has been the first to make this step, while other universities such as Queen’s University Belfast, University of Surrey, and potentially Newcastle University hope to follow.

The move abroad aims to appeal to the mass of students in India who cannot afford the UK’s international fees, but can afford more than India’s home fees 

Professor Aarti Srivastava, of the National Institute of Education Planning and Administration (NIEPA) in Dehli, told The Guardian: “UK universities are aiming to ride the high tide of demographic bulge in India”.

Foreign universities could not open branches in India until 2023, when regulations changed. 

The move abroad aims to appeal to the mass of students in India who cannot afford the UK’s international fees, but can afford more than India’s home fees. 

Despite undergraduate tuition fees being approximately the equivalent of £2,000 in University of Delhi, the university is massively oversubscribed with around 250,000 students, creating demand for private universities in India which charge around £10,000.

University of Southampton’s branch in Gurgaon’s International Tech Park will charge about £12,000 annually for a BSc in business management, where the same course costs £24,000 for international students in the UK, alongside steep visa and travel costs.

However, The University and College Union (UCU) representatives have expressed their displeasure at the “scandalous” move. 

Newcastle University is facing cuts of £20 million to their salary bill which could result in the loss of around 300 jobs, and Queen’s University Belfast have asked for voluntary redundancies. Yet the universities are still planning expansions into India which could cost up to £7 million, alarming members of the UCU and university employees. 

Jo Grady, UCU’s general secretary, said: “All too often these vanity projects end up losing money or even shutting down”.

These outreach programmes could be an effective way for universities to combat a loss of revenue due to decreases in international student applications, but to some such as Grady, the move seems it “could not be more at odds” with universities’ “civic responsibilities”.