Trump Could Give English Universities Recruitment Boost, Says Watchdog
3 min read
Universities in England "might see opportunities" to recruit students and staff from the United States following Donald Trump's return to the White House, according to the universities watchdog chief.
Susan Lapworth, Chief Executive of Office for Students, told PoliticsHome that she "wouldn't be surprised" if those conversations were happening in the higher education sector.
President Trump this month gave schools and universities in the US two weeks to drop diversity initiatives or risk losing government funding, as part of a wider crackdown on diversity practices in workplaces.
Principal and vice-chancellor of the University of St Andrews Professor Dame Sally Mapstone said at the time that UK universities must be "very alert to the broader cultural and ideological ramifications" of Trump's policy.
Speaking at the same event, Tim Soutphommasane, the University of Oxford's chief diversity officer, said UK universities should push back against "culture war excesses" from the US, and that institutions like Oxford have an "important role in promoting equality of opportunity and social understanding".
In an interview with PoliticsHome, Lapworth said that while the regulator is politically impartial, there are "interesting dynamics" at play in the higher education sector that could see an uptick in students and academics choosing the UK over the US.
"Universities in England might see opportunities here, so perhaps to recruit students who might otherwise have studied in the US, but for whatever reason now, are choosing not to, or indeed to recruit staff.
"I wouldn't be surprised if there were those sorts of conversations in institutions, and that's not for us, those are choices for universities."
A British Council report published last week said that Trump's election could boost UK universities as fewer international students choose to study in the US. The researchers behind the report noted that during Trump's first term in office, the number of overseas students who enrolled in US universities declined on an annual basis every year.
A former universities minister recently told PoliticsHome that the higher education sector in the UK should "take every advantage" in competition for international students if Trump's election victory triggered a surge in young Americans looking to study abroad.
A recent fall in the number of international students applying to study in the UK has contributed to the financial pressures facing universities nationwide. PoliticsHome analysis of university accounts in January found that some institutions had seen their income from overseas students drop by as much as £10m year-on-year as a result of a fall in applicants.
For several years, fees collected from international students were able to mitigate the impact of a real-term decrease in the value of domestic student fees for universities. Overseas students pay more to study in the UK than their domestic counterparts.
However, the previous Conservative government led by former prime minister Rishi Sunak brought in tighter rules for foreign students as part of a wider effort to reduce net migration.
Vivienne Stern, Chief Executive of Universities UK (UUK), told PoliticsHome that the downward trend reflected in those accounts would become more severe in around 12 months, potentially putting further pressure on university finances.
“The very, very sharp downturn in enrolments will be the accounts that are published this time next year," she said in January.
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