Fears of Scots being squeezed out by EU students

Scottish students risk missing out on higher education places in their own country due to a huge increase in competition from elsewhere in the EU, one of the country’s leading universities has warned, writes Chris Marshall for The Scotsman.

Glasgow University said it had concerns that a rise in applications from EU students would begin to reduce the number of Scots studying at the institution. While Scots have always been in competition with those from other parts of Europe, the introduction of fees of up to £9,000 (US$14,300) a year south of the border means more EU students are applying for places in Scotland.

The warning from Glasgow University comes in the institution’s “outcome agreement”, seen by The Scotsman, which sets out how the university intends to widen access in return for extra Scottish government funding. The university said applications from EU students rose by 28% in the past year. The outcome agreement for Edinburgh University, while making no explicit warning about Scots being squeezed out, said applications from EU students rose by more than 25% in the 2012-13 cycle.
Full report on the http://Scotsman.com site