EU students’ post-Brexit loans and fees guaranteed

The Department for Education in the United Kingdom has announced that European Union students starting courses next year (2019-20) in England – months after the UK is due to leave the EU – will remain eligible to receive government-backed loans to cover their tuition fees for the duration of their courses.

Education Secretary for England Damian Hinds confirmed also that the maximum tuition fees that a university will be able to charge will be frozen for the second year running.

Hinds said that students from the European Union starting courses in England in the 2019-20 academic year will continue to be eligible for ‘home fee status’, which means they will be charged the same tuition fees as UK students.

They will also be able to access financial support for the duration of their course on the same basis as is available today.

He said: “Students from the EU make an important contribution to the universities sector and it is a testament to our system that so many students from abroad choose to come and study here. Today we are providing clarity and certainty on their fees for the duration of their courses.”

Referring to the freeze on the top rate for tuition fees – £9,250 (US$12,200) per year – he said: “I want everyone with the talent and potential to be able to take advantage of our world-class universities. We’ve already raised the amount of money graduates need to earn before starting to pay back their student loans, and freezing tuition fees for another year is another example of the steps the government is taking to support those in higher education.”

This follows the prime minister’s pledge last October that the government would freeze maximum tuition fees for full-time undergraduate courses in 2018-19 at £9,250 – and increase the amount borrowers can earn to £25,000 before they need to repay their loans. The Department for Education said this will save over half a million graduates up to £360 this year.

Alistair Jarvis, chief executive of Universities UK, said: “This announcement on fees and financial support provides much needed clarity for EU students and for universities.”

"Students from EU countries can now apply for places on undergraduate courses starting in autumn 2019 with the confidence that they will not have to pay up-front tuition fees and will remain eligible to receive government-backed loans to cover their tuition fees for the duration of their courses.”

However, he warned that “another year of freezing tuition fee levels for English students will put additional pressures on university finances”.

The National Union of Students (NUS) welcomed the announcement on EU student loans and fees, but demanded a long-term commitment on the future of student mobility post-Brexit.

Amatey Doku, the NUS vice president for higher education, asked: "What opportunities, if any, will be available to students after 2020?"

She said that is why the union is calling for a 'People's Vote' on the Brexit deal, "so that students have the opportunity to say no to a bad deal if it threatens to limit their opportunity to access education. The government needs to provide urgent clarification lest students lose even more faith in this chaotic Brexit process.”

On 23 June some 100,000 people marched in central London to call for a People's Vote on the final deal.

Demand remains strong

In England there are more than 65,000 EU students studying at first-degree, undergraduate level. Across the UK and at all levels of study, there are a total of 134,835 students from other EU countries in the UK and demand has remained strong in recent years, according to Universities UK.

Universities UK had been calling for this confirmation since the start of 2018 and warned last month that the UK could see a drop in EU students unless urgent clarity about the fee status of EU students starting courses next year (2019-20) was provided.

Ahead of the EU leaders summit in March this year, Universities UK published a priorities statement on Brexit. It called for clarity on a number of areas affecting universities, including the issue of 2019-20 EU students' status.

Other areas of concern on which universities are seeking clarity include the risk to the higher education sector’s position and reputation as a collaborator of choice in the EU’s research programmes and its access to EU funding mechanisms to support research excellence.

The UK government is carrying out a review of post-18 education and funding, due to conclude in early 2019, which will look at “how the system can work better for everyone, ensuring value for money for students and taxpayers”.