End of era for students from EU? My piece in Greece's main daily @ta_nea following UK govt announcement (June 23) that students from EU will no longer be eligible for home fee status & stud loans. Impact will be dramatic, w/ UK becoming secondary academic destination for EU studs

2. 10K Greek students register w/ UK Unis every year: there were 9,920 in academic year 2018-19, 10,135 year before, 10,130 in 2014-15 (official figures I have go back 5 years).
But considering average annual income in GR, it's likely UK Unis will become inaccessible for majority

3. Between 8,5K and 9,5K students from #Cyprus join UK Universities every year (an impressive number, considering the population of Cyprus; a reflection of the historic ties with the UK). But it's easy to predict they too will find it v hard to access UK Unis from year 2021-22.

I am not familiar with the survey used here, but the newspaper claims that, based on it, "9 out of 10 Cypriots will reconsider studying in Britain" following UK's decision for EU students to lose their “home” fee status and access to student loans.
https://www.financialmirror.com/2020/07/03/cyprus-students-write-off-uk-universities/

5. UUK @UUKIntl right to note in response that "overseas students – from EU and beyond – should be able to study in UK w/ minimal barriers". Int'l students enhance educational and cultural capital of our Universities. UK shoots itself in the foot.
@AlistairJarvis @viviennestern

6. To speak with more precision on what removal of home status for EU students will mean: instead of current fees of £9,2K per year (+ access to loans), students will face fees of betw £15-23K to study for the LLB Law (w/out loan!) (examples from Law Schools at the @UoLondon).

7. Removal of home fee status for EU studs will come at a huge "cost" for UK; it is a "blow for social mobility", as Gábor Csontos - recent @cambridge_uni graduate and former access officer of the Hungarian Society there - wrote in the @guardian (an excellent piece).

8. And we haven't even begun to explore connection betw these EU studs no longer coming to study in UK and long term impact on UK academia. The 2 are inextricably linked. Many of us would not have been here had we not been accommodated as students or researchers in the 1st place.

9. The inability to explore more flexible solutions - in line w/ relevant equality legislation - to avoid EU students crashing out of UKHI is also deeply frustrating for the reason that it's entirely counter-intuitive; it goes against efforts to maintain links w/ EU post Brexit.

10. I'm familiar w/ outstanding efforts of @ukingreece, & those of UK Ambassador to Greece, @KateSmithFCO, for instance, to keep GR closely linked to UK post Brexit. But I fear the decision on fees will be a stumbling block.Alternative arrangements must be investigated w/ urgency