Affordable UK Degrees

While European governments all say that international students bring important new skills to their countries, they then set up barriers by charging twice as much as their own citizens pay for university degree courses. But there is a way round this problem.

There is one constant difficulty facing international students in the UK: finding the tuition fees. Most of the jobs available to international students are at the minimum wage and UK visa legislation does not permit them to work more than 20 hours a week during term. Saving money for fees can be hard and many students find it difficult to keep up with their instalments. These factors often lead to hardship and even failure. Hence, affordable tuition fees would go a long way towards helping students to achieve their qualifications.

At a UK university, a Bachelor’s degree cost around £8,000 a year and Masters’ degrees can cost anything from £10,000 to £30,000 for an 18-month course. This is a huge barrier against students from non-European countries whose parents’ incomes are often much lower than those of Europeans. But there is a way of reducing the fees to at least as low as European Union citizens will pay.

The trick is to look for private colleges. Many of them have signed agreements with regular universities to deliver their degrees. One, for example, is Birmingham International College, which teaches Business, IT and Travel & Tourism degrees and its fees are lower than students would pay if they went directly to the universities.

Colleges like this usually have excellent teaching staff who will all have been approved by the universities. Such colleges are also small enough to provide a lot of personal contact between teachers and students. They also do their best to help their students pass so that they can advertise, like Birmingham International College does, pass rates of between 85% and 95% on first attempt.

The great thing is that the degree is awarded by the UK University because it is the University that marks the students’ papers, not the college. International students who want to study for degrees that are recognized and accepted worldwide could find private colleges’ fees well within their budgets.

The reason private colleges can slash these fees to levels affordable by many non-European citizens is simply because they have lower costs. Birmingham International College, for example, charges only £4,500 a year for first degrees and £6,750 for an impressive MBA or MSc. For talented students from families with financial difficulties, that college also offers scholarships from its Hardship Fund.


St. Kitts MBA student,. Jasmine Jeffers, says the college has excellent tutors, gives students lots of personal attention and is very student-friendly. Although the MBA course normally takes a year and a half at many universities, she expects to complete her MBA at this college within one year. Of the college, she says:
“My choice of Birmingham International College (BIC) was due to the prompt, enthusiastic response to my initial research enquiries and the low cost to pursue a Masters programme in the UK with a recognised university. Since my acceptance, my experience has been very enriching academically and culturally due to the high level of professionalism of the college. It is a delightful place to pursue on’s academic dreams as it is a home away from home as there are a large percentage of black students in the college’s community. I will not need to seek additional funds as I can live within the limits of my budget. I have no regrets of making BIC my choice as I will receive a recognised degree at an affordable cost with the experience of a lifetime.”