British charm offensive in Brazil
This new focus on South-America might be a response to the dropping numbers of international students in the UK due to tighter visa rules for students. The number of Indian students in the UK, traditionally the largest source of international talent, has dropped last year by 25 percent.
This is bad news for British universities since they financially depend more and more on the higher tuition fees international students pay. Latin American students can play a key role in mending this disastrous drop in enrolments and the resulting drop in income. The drop in international students comes at a time when participation of British students hits an all time high and nearly touches the ‘magic 50% mark’.
Talent and money
For many South-American students a degree in a prestigious university like Oxford or Cambridge is very attractive. This is not only true for an individual, but also on a national level this is stimulated. In order to stimulate Brazilian students to study abroad, Brazil started the ambitious “Science without Borders” program.
The goal is to enable more than 100.000 Brazilian students to study in North America or Europe. Next to the UK, Brazilian students can also choose for studies in France, Germany, Italy and the United States. The ‘Science without Borders’ program can boost the representation of Brazilian students in the UK. Currently there are more students from Jordan and Kuwait in the UK than from the ‘economic motor of Latin America’.
A welcome side effect of all this Brazilian talent is that it will at up to 250 million Euros to the British economy. The strengthened collaboration between the UK and the Latin American countries will also bring new opportunities to both countries in the form of study exchanges or research collaborations.
