EU referendum: Will there be a university brain drain if Britain leaves?

The big EU questions: With a month to go before the potentially epoch-making vote on British membership of the EU, the debate so far has been characterised by bias, distortion and exaggeration. So from now until the referendum we will be running a series of question and answer features that will explain the most important issues involved in a detailed, dispassionate way to help inform your decision

Top ranking universities under the new framework will be granted permission to raise tuition fees for undergraduate students (Getty)

What does being a part of the EU mean for higher education?

Under EU legislation on free movement of citizens, those moving to another member state have the same access to education as nationals, meaning British school leavers can apply to universities in Copenhagen, Rome or Bucharest at no extra cost, should they so choose. This is helped by legislation that allows every eligible student in the EU to pay the same tuition fees and can apply for the same financial support as nationals of the hosting country.

A healthy dose of EU funding and ease of mobility for workers helps researchers to collaborate with academic experts from across all EU member countries and produce research which is recognised globally for its outstanding quality.

So what could change?

Universities UK estimates that British institutions benefit from £1.2bn each year. This makes the UK one of the largest recipients of research funding in the EU. It’s likely Britain would lose that funding if we choose to leave, which ultimately risks knocking the country’s reputation as a global centre for research.

Student mobility schemes such as the Erasmus Programme could be lost, and it could also mean academics struggle to cooperate on research projects – which are becoming increasingly international in their approach.

Which universities and courses are most at risk?

Bigger universities with larger research budgets depend on EU sources for a sizeable minority of their funds, but newer universities tend to rely more heavily on EU funded grants.

Southampton Solent University, for example, receives more than 91 per cent of its competitive grant research income from the EU.

Almost a quarter of the research funding from competitive grants to the University of Cambridge comes from the EU, while the proportion at the University of Oxford is about a fifth.

Roderick Watkins, deputy vice-chancellor at Anglia Ruskin University, the fourth most dependent university, said that EU funds had been “invaluable” to recent research growth.

“We would certainly be anxious about what effect a vote to leave the EU might have on those funding streams,” he said.

Education was found to be the most vulnerable subject, followed by law – a worrying prospect for those who argue that the industry is already facing a recruitment crisis.

And there’s a knock-on effect…

A Brexit brain drain wouldn’t just mean fewer scientists pottering about in labs. The funding that universities receive can in turn transform local communities, creating jobs, better architecture and facilities that can be shared by the public as well as students.

So is everyone working in higher education in favour of staying in the EU?

It certainly seems that way. Many university leaders have come out against Brexit and a recent poll by the scientific journal Nature found that 83 per cent of active UK researchers will vote to remain.

And Professor Stephen Hawking has waded into the debate this week by warning that the UK would become “culturally isolated” if Brexit limited the scope for foreign exchanges.

He went on to say that staying in the EU will protect scientific research, a particular hot topic among scientists who fear their subject in particular might suffer from cuts to funding.

Dame Julia Goodfellow, president of Universities UK and vice-chancellor of the University of Kent, said: “British students benefit from being taught by the best minds from across Europe. Membership of the European Union is good for our universities and good for the science and research that improves people’s lives.”

Others have pointed out that the UK would be ultimately more “insular” if it was to leave the EU, since British students may be less exposed to other cultures. Europhiles argue that by working alongside a greater number of students from other countries allows Brits to graduate as more rounded, worldly people with better chances in the international jobs market.

Would EU students still be able to study in the UK?

Yes, but they would count as international students – meaning their fees would be much higher. While that might sound like a good thing for higher education funds, research suggests that the number of EU students applying to the UK would fall quite dramatically.

Undergraduate tuition fees for non-EU students in 2014-15 were priced at £12,000 on average for classroom-based subjects, but many courses ask much higher prices – a degree in Medicine at the University of Cambridge costs almost four and half times more as an international student than a UK citizen. Countries such as Denmark , which offer courses at a snip of the price, are likely to increase in popularity over the UK.

In the 2013-2014 academic year there were around 125,300 EU students at UK universities. They were awarded a total of £224m in student loans – 3.7 per cent of the total bill.

To some, a Brexit looks attractive in this context. UKIP members have highlighted the difficulty of recouping loan payments from EU students after they return home. Others claim that lower salaries, particularly in Eastern Europe, will mean many graduates won’t be in a position to repay their loans quickly – if at all.

“I welcome students from other European countries coming to the UK,” said MEP Jonathan Arnott, “but I don’t welcome the notion that the UK taxpayer should be the one to subsidise that.”

So, what do Brexiteers say?

The Leave campaign says universities would be no worse off financially because there is such high demand among UK students. Indeed, they say students would be more likely to secure places on their desired courses because there would be less competition from overseas students.

Universities might also be able to avoid strict EU regulations on clinical trials, which some argue has a damaging effect on research and innovation.