Page 56 - Movers, Shapers, and Everything in Between: Influencers of the International Student Experience

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Chapter 3
second highest number of international students. Though the UK’s Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) reported a 9% increase in the number of undergraduate students from outside the UK and the EU accepted in autumn 2020 (UCAS, 2020), rising to a new record total of over 44,000 international students, data on how many of those students actually took up their place has not been released as of January 2021. Furthermore, the Brexit deal, completed in December 2020, officially withdrew the UK from the EU, and students from outside the UK that took up their place after September 2020 will be subject to pay international student fees from 2021 onward. A 2020 survey by Study EU of more than 2,500 EU students interested in studying in the UK found that up to 84% will reconsider their choice if their home fee status is lost (Study EU, 2020). The UK’s exit from the EU will undoubtedly be a consideration in international student decision-making, further highlighting the need to understand what factors influence international student satisfaction.
More broadly, the international student experience must be better understood because international students bring significant benefits to the universities and communities where they study. Research from the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) indicates that domestic students gain connections and communication skills through interaction with international students, better equipping them for the global labor market (HEPI, 2015). A study by Luo and Jamieson-Drake (2013) showed that five, ten, and twenty years after graduation, domestic students who interacted with international students regularly had increased self-confidence, leadership, and quantitative skills than peers who did not. The myriad contributions of international students to both the universities and countries in which they study demonstrate the key role they play in internationalization of higher education, defined as “the intentional process of integrating an international, intercultural or global dimension into the purpose, functions and delivery of post- secondary education, in order to enhance the quality of education and research for all students and staff, and to make a meaningful contribution to society” (De Wit, Hunter, & Coelen, 2015, p. 281).