Teesside University in the UK
BY Stephen Kenechi
Education stakeholders say UK universities heavily reliant on Nigerian entrants may face financial pressures due to Nigeria’s foreign exchange crisis.
The naira nosedived against the US dollar from an average of N388/USD in January 2023 to over N1600/USD in August 2024.
The pound, which exchanged for the naira at N519 in late January 2023, spiked to over N2000/GBP in August 2024.
Naira’s purchasing power increasingly dipped and the local inflation rate also spiked to hit 34 percent in July 2024.
Telegraph reports that UK universities heavily dependent on entrants from Nigeria are bracing for the financial fallout of this crisis.
Analysis of data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) showed that Nigerians now make the third largest intake of foreign students in the UK after India and China.
HESA said a total of 72,355 Nigerians enrolled in UK tertiary institutions in 2023, accounting for a 66 percent increase from 2022.
Nigerians also made up more than 10 percent of postgraduate students at 20 UK universities during the 2021/2022 session.
One of these universities is Teesside University, which famously opted to evict some Nigerians in May 2024 over unpaid tuition.
Others are the University of Bradford, Robert Gordon University, the University of Hull, the University of Sunderland, Cardiff Metropolitan University, and Ulster University.
There are fears that enrollment figures will drop, with the naira depreciation pricing UK universities out of the reach of Nigerians.
Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK, a tertiary institution collective, was quoted as explaining that Nigerian students in the UK started facing financial difficulties after the currency crisis began in 2023.
She said this has forced UK universities to offer flexible payment schedules, defer enrolments, or refund deposits where prospective students were concerned that their studies were no longer affordable.
Concerns about an imminent drop in enrollment due to the FX crisis are heightened by the ban on dependants for foreign nationals seeking study visas in the UK.
“Visa and immigration rules do mean that, unfortunately, universities may need to withdraw sponsorship where a student is unable to complete their studies,” Stern said.
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