Page 22 - ELG1806 June Issue 458

Ranking .
We’re still

in the dark

on EU

student fees

Matt Salusbury investigates
the post-Brexit future for EU post-
hat will happen to postgraduate
fees charged by British graduates in the UK
universities to EU nationals
Wafter the UK leaves the
European Union at 11am on March 29,
2019? Will they suddenly have to pay
international fees of between £12,000 and, EU studying in the UK still be able to enjoy look assured up until then.
in some cases, £20,000 plus? the Postgraduate Masters Loan student loan As we went to press, Prime Minister
The short answer is not for those already scheme? They would normally need to be May said she would like to stay in a ‘close
enrolled in a one year masters at that time. ‘living in England’ before they start studying association’ with the EU on its research
We know that until the end of the academic to qualify for this anyway. programmes, including Erasmus+’s
year 2018-19 students from EU countries There are equivalent postgraduate loan successor, although there’s been no
only have to pay the same amount as UK schemes for Scotland, Wales and Northern response from EU negotiators yet.
nationals. Ireland. They’re all guaranteed for EU What about students from Switzerland
In the summer of 2017, UK Prime nationals for 2018-19, but after that, we (over 1,300 of these applied for UK
Minister Theresa May pledged ‘to protect universities for the 2018 undergraduate
the rights of those who are in a cross-border EU nationals who intake, up from 1,210 last year) and
situation at the point of our withdrawal... are already in the UK Norway, outside the EU but within the
This includes, for example, tourists for European Economic Area and enjoying the
the duration of their stay, students for the or enrolled on a UK same tuition fee rate as EU nationals?
duration of their course.’ The UK seems determined to leave
So, EU nationals who are already in the university course as of the EEA as well as the EU, so Swiss and
UK or enrolled on a UK university course as 29 March 2019, should Norwegian national students also face
of March 29 2019 should have the right to uncertainty. Prime Minister May has also
the same tuition fee rate as UK nationals. have the right to the same given assurances that ‘we are also working
This is not a problem for masters closely with Switzerland and European
students, although the situation for tuition fee rate as the UK Economic Area member states to ensure
European undergraduates is less clear. nationals their citizens in the UK also benefit from
There is no government-set tuition fee cap these arrangements.’
for UK and EU students enrolling for masters don’t know. There’s been no detail on this since then.
courses. In theory, universities can charge EU nationals with a first degree from There may have to be some sort of
them the same fees as international students, another EU member state can also get an bilateral arrangements with these countries
and for some subjects they already do. interest-free loan for postgraduate study – indeed Switzerland has already had
However, in the field of EFL and applied in the UK via the Erasmus+ programme. to make such deals with individual EU
linguistics, market forces mean most EU nationals can’t do a degree at one countries.
institutions can’t charge much over £9,000 UK university and go on to do a masters There remains a lot of detail still to be
a year for both UK and EU students – at there with an interest-free EU loan (we’ve negotiated. And there is the nightmare
least for now. Indeed it may last up to 2020. noticed, though, that many UK universities scenario of the UK crashing out of the EU
The UK and the EU have agreed a offer their own big discount for a masters with no deal concluded.
‘transition period’ in which freedom of if you’ve done your bachelor degree with The European Parliament is also
movement persists until December 31 them). threatening to exercise its veto on the final
2020. Whether this extends to enjoying the A joint report from the negotiators of the agreement.
same tuition fees rate as before hasn’t yet European Union and the United Kingdom Meanwhile, prospective students from
been agreed. Expect this to be tested in the government late last year agreed that the the EU looking to enrol on courses from
courts. UK would stay in the Erasmus+ programme 2019 need answers.
In the meantime, will students from the until it ends on December 31 2020, so loans They will have to wait.
22 June 2018

p14-23.indd 10 6/5/2018 11:24:26 AM