Winchester's Joy Carter is one of 16 university bosses to sign an open letter to the Government predicting financial hardship if proposed limits are enforced.
The fears are a response to measures proposed by Home Secretary Theresa May after an extensive consultation process. Her plans will limit student immigration by imposing strict new guidelines for possible students. These include restricting places to those who fall below new english language standards.
The letter, published in the Observer, includes a stark warning for the future of science and engineering courses. There are fears this will cut the selection of courses available to British students. They said: “Without international students, many university courses, particularly science and engineering ones, may no longer be viable. This will in turn reduce the courses available to UK students.”
The vice-chancellors insist they appreciate concerns that immigration rules could be misused but believe the overwhelming majority of international students are blameless. The letter said: “Universities are fully aware of public concern about abuse of immigration rules. Any abuse must be tackled robustly and Universities UK will co-operate fully in ensuring that cases of abuse are minimised. But evidence shows that international students in universities overwhelmingly do not abuse the system.”
In a statement the Home Office said that no final decision has been made. "Any criticism can only be based on speculation as no decisions have yet been made on the changes to the student visa route. However, universities that are confident in the product they have to offer genuine students should have nothing to fear from policies that root out abuses in the student visa system."
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