EU students to face higher fees for English universities

Students from the European Union starting university in England next year will have to pay higher fees under funding changes introduced as a result of Brexit, the government said Tuesday.

“Following our decision to leave the EU, EU, other EEA (European Economic Area) and Swiss nationals will no longer be eligible for home fee status… for courses starting in academic year 2021/22,” universities minister Michelle Donelan said.

Until now, EU nationals have benefited from the same status as British students, who can borrow loans from the government to cover fees of up to 9,250 British pounds ($11,580, 10,220 euros) a year for a full-time undergraduate course.

Sun-seekers cool off in the water and sunbathe on the riverbank at Hackney Marshes in east London on June 24, 2020, as temperatures reached 31 degrees C at Heathrow Airport on the hottest day of the year Just days after lockdown ended and European travel restrictions were lifted, many were staying home in the cool Tuesday as a heatwave hit the continent with temperatures touching 40 degrees Celcius. Britain was bracing for a flood of visitors to its beaches with the heatwave expected to last until Friday and temperatures set to climb into the mid-30s in the south and centre of the country. Source: Tolga Akmen/AFP

Other foreign students are not eligible for the loan and their fees are often much higher, rising to £36,065 for the most expensive course at Oxford University.

The change will not affect EU, EEA or Swiss nationals already settled in Britain, whose rights were protected in a divorce deal struck between London and Brussels before Brexit on Jan. 31.

Nor will it affect students starting courses in the 2020/21 academic year, thanks to a post-Brexit transition period that lasts until December, Donelan said in a written statement to parliament.

Irish students will also be exempt due to the special immigration status of all Irish citizens in Britain.

A group of young people walk past a pub open for takeaways on Holland Park Avenue in west London on June 1, 2020, following the easing of the lockdown restrictions during the novel coronavirus pandemic. Some non-essential stores, car dealerships and outdoor markets in Britain on June 1 were able to reopen from their COVID-19 shutdown in an easing of coronavirus lockdown measures. Source: Tolga Akmen/AFP

Many EU students study in Britain, and vice versa, as part of the bloc’s Erasmus scheme.

London says it wants to continue to participate, but the details are still being worked out with Brussels as the two sides negotiate their broader future relationship.

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