Scaling back the teaching of students in overseas campuses in response to domestic financial pressures would be a mistake for UK universities given the immense economic and educational benefits derived from transnational education, the vice-chancellor of De Montfort University (DMU) has argued.

After facing criticism from staff for expanding abroad while cutting back at home, Katie Normington told Times Higher Education that it was now more important than ever for her institution to operate globally.

DMU has campuses in Dubai, Cambodia and Kazakhstan in addition to its UK base in Leicester, with more than 12,000 students learning overseas once those taught through franchise and other agreements are included.

Income gained from overseas ventures is increasingly needed to support loss-making teaching and research activity in the UK, said Normington. ¡°Like other UK universities, we are in a position where home student fees do not cover the costs of teaching and that fee is unlikely to rise much further in coming years,¡± she said.

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Domestic fees are set to?increase to ?9,535 a year?from September after a long freeze, but Universities UK analysis suggests this is still about ?3,000?short of the true cost?of educating undergraduates.

¡°International student numbers in the UK are also more volatile than ever¡­so if you want to support the range and breadth of what we do here then you need to think about how we do this,¡± Normington added.

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¡°Some universities can generate large commercial revenues from other activities such as conferencing, halls of residence or hotels [they own] ¨C post-1992 universities don¡¯t tend to have these facilities as we largely serve local students, but [at DMU] we do have a track record of success in transnational education lasting 30 years.¡±

Without the surplus generated from international activity, DMU would need to consider ¡°cutting programmes with very low enrolments, affecting local students who would not have access to other opportunities, or thinking about how we support our seven research institutes¡±, said Normington.

The university is currently seeking to?save about ?8 million?which, according to an internal consultation, ¡°could result in up to 80 roles being made redundant¡± despite having already found some ?17 million of savings in 2024-25.

Education group Study World has also accused DMU of an?¡°unlawful¡± termination of a partnership?in April 2024 which had seen it build and operate a previous Dubai campus ¨C demonstrating some of the potential risks in developing such activity.

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Study World¡¯s claims have been rejected as baseless by DMU, which insists that the deal, agreed under UK law, was terminated following multiple warnings over breaches ¨C a scenario covered by the agreement. There is also a ¡°firewall¡± in institutional spending to ensure investment in Dubai is funded by cash reserves, rather than efficiency savings in Leicester.

With DMU¡¯s overseas student numbers likely to overtake home-educated students ¡°within a few years¡±, the financial return from this activity was vitally important, but transnational education also aligned strongly with DMU¡¯s historic educational mission of widening student access, said Normington.

¡°We are seeing huge growth in our global numbers, partly because we are operating in emerging economies who want the education that De Montfort offers. But we¡¯re also taking it to audiences who could not benefit from it previously ¨C there are, for instance, a very high proportion of women students on many of our campuses, and we¡¯re also reaching out to those students whose families aren¡¯t wealthy enough to send them to an international university,¡± she said.

Addressing internal criticism over its Dubai expansion, Normington added: ¡°I can see it is difficult for people to understand why we are advertising for jobs in Dubai while we are restructuring. But our cash reserves ¨C which are healthy ¨C allow us to do this.¡±

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¡°When you start modelling the financial sustainability of UK universities [under current conditions] they are becoming less and less sustainable ¨C either you accept that or think about what can be done differently,¡± she added.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com