Effect of exiting the EU on higher education

Higher education in the UK is a major business and revenue generator and operates in a global market. Arguably the most significant consequences of EU membership on the UK higher education (HE) sector are the provision of support to EU students studying in the UK and access to European research funding and projects. Membership of the EU also gives UK students access to European student mobility schemes such as Erasmus+. Furthermore, the UK is a signatory to the Bologna Process which aims to create a harmonised HE system across Europe. The long-term implications of Brexit on the higher education sector and on EU students who want to study in the UK, will depend on what is agreed as part of the UK's exit negotiations. Universities are highly concerned about their situation post Brexit. Their concerns focus on two main areas: the impact on students and the impact on research. Leaving the EU potentially means that the Government will not have to provide student loans, or maintenance funding for EU students, this would save the Government money. However, the loss of student funding for EU students could have an impact on the numbers of EU students coming to study in the UK and this could consequently have a detrimental impact on fee income for universities and on the culture and diversity of universities. Conversely it has been argued that situation post Brexit could be more nuanced and that Brexit could increase places for UK students and that this could maintain institutions’ fee incomes. It has even been suggested that charging EU students higher fees as overseas students could increase fee income if UK higher education continued to attract EU students. The UK could also potentially lose access to the Erasmus + programme. This could be a particular difficulty for students whose degree courses include compulsory time abroad. For now UK students will continue to be allowed access to the Erasmus + programme and will be able to study overseas as part of that scheme. The UK’s future access to the programme is undecided but it should be noted that some non-EU countries participate in the Erasmus + programme as partner countries. There is widespread concern that UK higher education may lose access to EU research funding post Brexit. Some universities are anecdotally already experiencing difficulties with grant applications and UK researchers are being dropped, or excluded from funding bids. There are also concerns that the movement of staff and researchers could be affected and that this could detrimentally impact on the quality of research projects if the UK cannot continue to attract high calibre individuals from across Europe. Also UK research may be damaged if the UK is less able to work collaboratively on international projects. It has been suggested that the combined effect of these changes could lead to a decline in the status of UK higher education. However the Prime Minister stressed her support for UK science in a letter to Sir Paul Nurse director of the Francis Crick Institute in London. The Commons Science and Technology Committee is conducting an inquiry to examine the implications and opportunities of leaving the EU.