Why do our most prestigious and wealthiest Unis accept so many international students ?

[Berlinerschnauzer]

So said my son’s dad on learning DS2 failed to be offered a place at Cambridge…
I don’t know enough to confirm whether it’s sour grapes or he actually has a point.
Was looking at figures for Oxbridge and was surprised to find that something like 60 odd percent of students (under and post grads) are international. For undergraduates it’s nearly a quarter.
Likewise Edinburgh has 30% international students and is one of the wealthiest unis.
Unlike lower tier unis which don’t have the same deep financial pockets and have to attract foreign students to survive, surely these unis don’t. They could be attracting home grown, talented students who in years to come will contribute massively to the economy rather than returning to their home countries and taking their skills with them. My question is does ex DP have a point or is he spouting bollocks
as per usual ?

I haven't rtft as long but your dc's grades stood out op

They are high, and sound high enough for Oxbridge. Not sure why they were not successful. I suppose not everyone is with those grades

I think Eastern that the DC got all the way to the interview stage. At which point many decisions will be on the very finest margins. It’s a disappointment for the DC but hopefully he has some alternative offers from other top end unis - which with that grade profile, you’d hope he’d receive.

This is very true. Though not sure any British universities could be called wealthy, except the Oxbridge colleges with thousand year old endowment funds. Others in the top tier would be better described as financially stable if they are lucky. The lower tier universities just cannot attract the foreign students prepared to pay high level fees and are consequently at high risk of financial collapse.

My father is a professor of Chemistry,

Yeah, believe me the professors know nothing about university finances.

Have a look at the latest financial statements for universities. A lot are running deficits which will lead to financial collapse if something doesn't change. None are wealthy.

No, Imperial is not rolling in cash and yes, they do very much need the income from international students. Especially as they are almost exclusively offering STEM courses which are of course much more expensive to run than arts & humanities courses. Read the latest financial statements, it's all there.

Yes I can confirm university finances are very complicated! They carry out many other activities apart from teaching and the income is often specified to only be used in financing particular activities. So yes may seem to be huge income but the cost of financing the many activities is also huge.

I'm actually a professor. I know quite a lot about university finances.

This is very true. Though not sure any British universities could be called wealthy, except the Oxbridge colleges with thousand year old endowment funds. Others in the top tier would be better described as financially stable if they are lucky. The lower tier universities just cannot attract the foreign students prepared to pay high level fees and are consequently at high risk of financial collapse..

It's not just the lower tier (as you describe them) that are in financial difficulty. There are a significant number of Russell Group and highly ranked universities who are facing significant financial challenges.

Your dad might not, but you can't say that of all professors.
I'm about 2 years off becoming a professor and as a Head of Department I have to know about university finances. It's a huge part of my job.

My Dean, and Associate Deans are all professors and know about university finances too.

Yes but it’s to survive and to enable home students to have places.

This is very true, institutions have been opting out of undergraduate courses in subjects such as physics, chemistry and engineering which have labwork and are too expensive for them to continue. This has been happening since the 1990s. Even world-renowned colleges like Imperial must be struggling to keep courses going, especially if they specialise in STEM.
Many postgraduate courses in these subjects have very high fees and must be largely carried by the fees paid by international students. They couldn't be run if this didn't happen.

Yes, all the professors where I worked had to be involved in finance, it was a significant part of their role. In many institutions they had to be pulling in significant research money to be appointed to a chair, unless it was funded in another way.

@angela1952 exactly.
At my institution you wouldn't even become a professor without some leadership/management points which would obviously include an understanding of finance.

@SerenityNowSerenityNow no, my Dad wasn't a professor of chemistry- that was my ham fisted attempt to reply to another poster who said they knew all about university finance because their Dad was a professor. The bolding didn't work!

I spend a lot of my time explaining the realities of university finance to people in positions similar to yours. Let's just say some are better than others.