Report Of The President's Task Force On Visa Student Fees 
Report Of The President's Task Force On Visa Student Fees APPENDIX II
RESPONSES TO SURVEY QUESTIONS
Q1. Are international visa fees deregulated in your jurisdiction?
Alberta- Not entirely, the Povince of Alberta requires that our foreign fees be at least 2X domestic fees. Institutions have latitude in going beyond the 100% differential.
Dalhousie-
UBC- Yes
SFU- Yes, we are free to set fees for international students.
University of California UCLA- as one of the nine campuses of the University of California, does not assess a surcharge for international students. As a state-assisted university, the University of California charges a non-resident tuition to anyone who is not a resident of the State of California. Qualification for Residency is established by the State and administered by the Registrar's Office.
Illinois-Urbana Champaign
Texas A & M-
Western Michigan- If you mean does the state government regulate our university's fees, then the answer is yes, they are deregulated. In Michigan each university establishes its own tuition and fees. I recall that years ago there was a policy that universities must charge students from outside Michigan a tuition rate higher than that charged in-state students. More recently, however, the policy has been handled informally. As a matter of operations, however, universities typically charge non-Michigan students more tuition than Michigan resident students would pay.
Australian National-
Adelaide-
Charles Sturt Fee setting for international students in Australia are set by individual universities, however, the Commonwealth Government issues annually a set of minima and all universities must not go below these levels. We set fee very close to minimum allowed.
Melbourne-
New South Wales-
South Australia Department of Employment, Education & Training put out a minimum fee. The University yes into account the minimum fee and the University costs. Ql continued....Page 2UK
Aston- Yes.
Birmingham- The fees for overseas students are not controlled by Government of funding council in the UK. Once the UK government decreed in 1983 that overseas student fees would be at a higher rate, there was no formal control. Until 1992, the Committee of ViceChancellors and Principals used to issue "guidelines" from which most of the old universities deviated little. Since Polytechnics and other institutions achieved university status in 1992, even those guidelines vanished.
Bradford- Yes
Bristol- Yes
East London- Yes
London School of Economics-
Salford- Like most universities, Salford followed CVCP recommendations until 93/94 when it stopped issuing recommendatory fee rates. since 1994 we have simply added an inflation factor which, on the whole, has kept the "older" universities in the United Kingdom in line though there are signs of increasing diversification which will inevitably increase as time goes on.
Sheffield- Yes
Warwick- The University has the discretionary power to charge fees to overseas (non-UK or EU students) as it sees fit. The power is given under Government's Education (Mandatory Awards) regulations.
02. Do your fees include health insurance, student service fees, etc.?
Alberta- No.
Dalhousie- No.
UBC- No.
SFU- No.
University of California- No.
Illinois-Urbana Champaign- No.
Texas A & M- No.
Western Michigan- No. If they don't have proof of health insurance, must pay $500 per year for enrolment in the student group policy.
Australian National- Student health and general services fee (compulsory student activities fee) included in course fee.
Adelaide-
Charles Sturt-
Melbourne- Fees cover student service fee but not health insurance.
New South Wales- Fee includes general fees, medical insurance, students union membership, administrative, advisory and counselling charges, end of program transcript, pre-arrival planning.
South Australia- Student services and access to facilities on campus are included in tuition fee.
UK Note: Students in UK for more than 6 months are covered under National Health Service
Aston- Covers all but personal costs.
Birmingham- All but personal and residence costs.
Bradford-
Bristol- No extras, all inclusive.
East London- Covers tuition and core services such as library, sports center, health centre, not accommodation or meals.
London School of Economics- Fee covers all student services other than personal consumables.
Salford- All fees are inclusive.
Sheffield- Health insurance is not required and the fees do include our student services fees. Accommodation and other living expenses would be in addition to these fees.
Warwick- Fee covers registration, tuition and examinations ad contribution towards provision of student amenities. It does not cover charges for re-examination, residence, graduation or other miscellaneous services.
03. Is there any defined relationship between the fees assessed domestic and visa students?
Alberta- A minimum of 2 times domestic.
Dalhousie-
UBC- Fees are a factor times the average General Purpose Operating Fund expense per weighted full-time equivalent student. 2.5 times for agriculture, arts, commerce, engineering, nursing, science, education and law. 3.5 times for professional graduate programs such as MBA. 4.5 times for professional graduate programs such as Engineering and Pharmacy. 5.5 times for medicine and dentistry.
SFU- 3 times domestic for undergraduate programs.
University of California-
Illinois-Urbana Champaign-
Texas A & M- No, resident supplemented by state, non-resident charged closer to actual rate.
Western Michigan- Non-residents always pay more, usually somewhat more than twice the rate of Michigan residents.
In Australia, the Department of Employment, Education and Training set a minimum fee for international students, which reflects what they believe the actual cost of teaching domestic students is. Domestic students pay AS$2442 in 96/97 through the Australian Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) per full-time academic year of study for any course. Full-fee paying overseas students fees are set using recovery, and so there is no link between the two.
In the UK, international student fees are full-cost fees because the institutions receive no other funding for these students. Home/EU students' fees are lower because the universities receive additional "core" funding from HEFCE for each student in addition to their tuition fees. There is no link between the two.
Alberta- We estimate that even with the 100% differential, foreign students are still being subsidized by the Province.
Dalhousie-
UBC- Market-based fees, established with consideration to program costs (they conducted a cost study) and market conditions.
SFU- Rationale was to approach full cost recovery, although we are not there yet.
University of California- Fees are established by The Regents of the University of California, based on negotiation with the State of California. Fee levels reflect the outcome of the negotiation process. They are not based on cost studies
Illinois-Urbana Champaign- Originally, the in-state tuition was supposed to be 1/3 of the cost and the out-of state tuition was supposed to be full cost. Neither approaches that level now.
Texas A & M- Full cost recovery is the idea.
Western Michigan- The basic theory for most Michigan institutions is that since the State of Michigan's appropriations covers slightly more than half (this differs by institution) of the general fund, that this represents the Michigan taxpayers' subsidy of the institution. Therefore, tuition and fees must cover the rest. However, for students who are not taxpayers in Michigan they should pay tuition at a rate that will cover that portion the taxpayers would cover.
In setting the minimum fee which may be charged for international students, the Australian government is making an adjustment as to what they believe the actual cost of teaching domestic students is. Institutions must charge at least this minimum fee. The determining factor beyond this is market forces, ie competition.
Aston- The 1996/97 fee levels are based on average unit costs for similar programmes offered at the University in 1995/96 adjusted to take account of projected inflation rates for the costs incurred by the University. The extent to which programme fees include a profit element varies from programme to programme and according to market demand.
Birmingham- The original rationale for these fees was that the Government described them as being "full cost". Since they were handed down on a sector-wide basis, one could imagine that Q4 continued....Page 2 they represented some kind of average based upon unit costs. However, they have in practice existed on their own for many years, being subject only to various institutions' views as to the effects of inflation. It would be fair to say that the assessment of the level of these fees is undertaken on grounds which are at least as much to do with marketing as with any precise idea of attributable costs.
Bradford- They are based on a cost study at the national level some years ago. They are supposed to cover building and other such costs as well as full cost of tuition, etc.
Bristol- The original rationale for the fee levels for overseas students was that the fee represented an estimate of the full cost of teaching a student in a particular category. It is now widely considered that these fees are somewhat below the full cost. On the whole, better known/older universities charge higher fees.
East London- Fees reflect full cost.
London School of Economics- Rates for students from outside the EU are supposed to cover the full cost of providing tuition per place, usually defined as the same as the unit of resource we get from fees and Govt funding per UK/EU student; this figure is subject to minima for, broadly, arts, science and medical subjects.
Salford- The standard "international" fee is based upon an average of real costs: the domestic fee is fixed by the British Government who increasingly use it as a manpower planning tool. The overseas fee is supposed to reflect actual real costs though these are hidden by the averaging out process except in specific "non-standard" fees charged by "self-funding" departments.
Sheffield- A cost study was carried out and these fees reflect these costs. There is no premium in addition to these.
Warwick- Overseas fees are set by the Academic Registrar ad the Finance Officer in consultation with the Director of the University's International Office and are based on what is seen as current market tolerance and the fees being charged by those universities who we see as our major competitors in this area..
05. What support systems do you have for international students, what offices provide this support, andhow much of this support Is funded from the revenue generated by International students?
Alberta- We operate an international centre on campus that provides a variety of student support services specifically for int'l students. The Int'l Centre is hard funded in the University operating budget under Student Services. There is no direct transfer from fees to the Int'lCentre.
Dalhousie-
UBC-
SFU- Centre for International Students (now called International & Exchange Student Services) provide ongoing support to international students from the time they are admitted to when they leave SFU as follows:
-Upon admission, IESS sends a package to student outlining immigration procedures, general information on University, community etc. and orientation, along with an arrival form confirming arrival information and orientation attendance.The centre is funded from general operating revenues, there is no connection to fee revenue generated from visa students.
University of California- Support systems for international students at UCLA are provided through the Office of International Students and Scholars (0155). (0155) was established 40 years ago to provide specialized services to international students attending UCLA. Today, it continues that mission and has added support for international and intercultural programs. The services include personal counselling on visa and immigration issues, along with appropriate forms and documents; financial and tax matters; academic adjustment; insurance; release of funds from other countries; questions of personal adjustment; and help in understanding the culture and systems of UCLA. Q5~ continued....Page 2
Illinois-Urbana Champaign- We have an Office of International Student Affairs which is funded primarily on state general revenue and tuition funds..
Texas A & M- Most of the fund for the Office of International Student Services are generated from the international students through fees or from sponsors of international students.
Western Michigan- Support systems for international students: the office has a staff of ten, 3.5 of whom do admissions work exclusively. The others are responsible for orientation of international students, and helping them while they're here in the U.S. The office is entirely funded by the University's general fund.
Australian National- The International Education Office at ANU has 14 full-time staff, working in three major areas of International Development, Admissions and Information Systems and Student Services. It is part of the Academic Registrar's Division. It's roles are the promotion of the University overseas, the admission of international undergraduate students and the welfare and support of international students.
Adelaide-
Charles Sturt- With regard to support systems, all support systems offered to domestic students are available to international students. In addition to this, the International Office provides course information advice and the entire admission process for overseas students. We also have international student counsellors at each campus, who provide social, cultural and academic support over and above that which is available to Australian students, where the support is a result of the cross cultural experience.
Melbourne- All are funded eventually from revenue from international students, however in the start up phase seed money is provided from other sources (usually non-recurrent income sources) Services are information packs, predeparture briefings, airport pick up, housing assist, orientation, health, language, learning support, child care etc. The International Office provides the bulk of this support and coordinates the remainder by other providers. Once on campus, support is provided by the International office, faculties and student support services.
New South Wales-
South Australia- The International Student's Office was set up to guide students from their initial course enquiry through the application process to arrival in Australia. Students may also approach the 150 for assistance with visa extensions, and financial problems. The International Student Centre services begin with the new student's arrival, and provides advice and support with all academic and personal issues. All support services are funded from tuition fees charge to full-fee paying overseas students (FPOS)
Aston- The university is developing its overseas recruitment and support activities. We do not have at present any support services specifically dedicated to overseas students, other than an honorary overseas student advisor (a retired member of staff who voluntarily devotes some time to support students). Student support is one of the issues currently under discussion by the university's task force on overseas recruitment. The students' guild does have a student adviser whose role includes support for overseas students.
Birmingham- Support services are delivered to overseas students partly by their participation in the existing campus-wide services open to all students. In addition, there are a number of individuals tasked with providing specific support in academic, English language, and pastoral areas. Additionally there is a Director of International Affairs, within the Directorate of Admissions, Liaison and International Affairs. Funding for all of these a activities comes through the normal University budgetary processes and, in general, the source of those funds is not specifically tied to any particular income stream.
Bradford- We have only just set up an International Office and these issues are ones I am about to address. At present the services provided to international students follow very closely with some additions those for home students. There is no direct relationship between income and the services.
Bristol- The University has an International Centre in which is situated the University's Overseas Recruitment and Liaison Office ad also the University's Students' Advisory Service. The University and the British Council organise a "meet and greet" service for overseas students arriving at Heathrow Airport and at Bristol Airport and also at the main railway and coast stations in Bristol. Overseas students during their period of study within the University can of course make use of all the facilities available to home students such as the Health Service, the Counselling Service and the Welfare Services provided by the Students' Union but the overseas Student Advisory Service mentioned above is available for all kinds of help that overseas students might need as well as organising trips to London and the surrounding areas of Bristol. None of this is directly supported from the tuition fees received from overseas students as the fee income comes into the University and is distributed around the University along with other income. East London International office, welfare, health housing and academic advisors.
London School of Economics- We have a premium designed to feed back into financial aid.
Salford- International students are normally expected to make use of the normal University and Students Union support services but the International Office, which has a full-time International Students' Counsellor, organises specific events and services such as a "meet and greet" and induction programme and sorts out problems with courses, finance, accommodation and immigration matters when the normal University infrastructure cannot cope. The International Office, which also has a general recruitment and international liaison role, is funded centrally and there is no defined ratio of budget against overseas student income. The total staffing and operational budget is currently about 4% of international fee income.
Sheffield- A number of offices are involved in providing support for international students as follows: The Students Union employs an International Student Advisor who offers international students advice during their time at university. The Union also has a full-time paid sabbatical post to represent international student views and support the work of international student societies. The Housing Services Office assists students to find accommodation. The University has an International Student Services Office which provides comprehensive pre-arrival information, residential orientation programmes, an immigration advisory service and cross cultural training for students and staff. Money is not specifically allocated from international student fees to pay for these services.
Warwick- The University has an International Office, charged with the administration of all areas relating to the recruitment, living arrangements ad welfare of overseas students. There is also a major overseas students' induction week organised by the International Office. Each nationality recruited has, where possible, a identified academic member of staff who assists with general academic ad some welfare problems. There is also a Senior Tutor's office charged with overseeing the welfare of all students. The International Office is considered as part of the University's earned (non-government funded) income stream and is funded through central resources which are in part provided by overseas fee income.
Q6. Are there policies on revenue sharing between the University and the
teaching Faculties?
Are some revenues taken off the top for scholarships, bursaries, and
International student support
What support is offered graduate students
Are there any incentives for academic units to increase the visa
component of their enrolment?Are there limits on the number of visa
students who may be admitted?
Alberta- No.
No.
International students are eligible for the same kinds of assistantships etc
that are there for domestic grad students.
Encouragement yes, incentives no.
Technically we have an overall target of 5% visa student participation. We
have not been near this figure in the past several years. The target is really a
desired minimum, rather than a maximum.
Dalhousie-
UBC- A specified amount per FTE will be allocated from international fee revenue, on a slip- year basis to fund scholarships and financial awards for international students, an to a Provost's fund for minor capital projects related to teaching and learning. (i.e. this is the .5 of the weighting factor. The balance of fee revenue will be allocated 70% to the Faculty enrolling the students (with provision for the purchase of services from other units) and 30% will be allocated to the enhancement of support services. In conjunction with the Awards Office and/or the Faculty of Graduate Studies, Faculties will offer these awards in a manner which attracts high-quality students who would otherwise be unlikely to attend UBC.
SFU- No.
No.
Teaching assistantships and research assistantships and some scholarships.
No.
We are free to set our own limits. .At SFU we have a 7% limit on ug
admissions of visa students, and 10% limits on admission to majors in Business.
There are no limits at the graduate level.
University of California- Revenues from non-resident tuition are an income to the University of California and are distributed among the nine campuses of the University in accordance with distribution algorithms established by the University of California Office of the President. No special distribution pertains to income received specifically from international students. There are no incentives to academic departments to increase the enrollment of international students. There are no limits on the number of international students that I am aware of.
Illinois-Urbana Champaign- All base rate tuition dollars currently are pooled centrally and distributed to units as part of their base budget. Tuition above the base rate is given directly to the program where the student is enrolled. In the future, graduate and professional tuition will actually go directly to the college of the student's enrollment, so a college with a higher out-of-state resident population will receive more money. This may be an incentive in the future to increase the number of out-of-state students at the graduate/professional level. Undergraduate tuition in the future will be distributed by a formula that ignores the resident/nonresident breakdown of a particular college. This is specifically designed to force colleges to ignore residency when recruiting undergraduates. Our state legislature is very sensitive to the number of out-of-state students enrolled at the undergraduate level and would not be happy if we increased it much beyond the current 8-9%.
Some of the tuition is used by units, especially in Law, Vet Med, and the MBA programs, for scholarships. About 2/3 of our graduate ad professional students receive aid in the form of graduate assistantships, which carry a stipend and a tuition waiver. These are granted based on merit and are (theoretically) not based on residency. All international students must show proof of sufficient funds to support the student for the duration of study - a guarantee of assistantship or fellowship or personal funds.
Western Michigan- Policies on revenue generated by international students: To my knowledge, the tuition and fee revenues paid by international students are treated exactly the same as those for domestic students. Tuition goes to the University's general fund where it is distributed to the university's general fund expenditure obligations. These include the colleges and central administrative functions. No revenues are specifically taken off the top for support of international student services. The incentives for academic units to increase international students are more qualitative than quantitative (except, of course, the argument for increased efficiency of use of existing spaces in certain programs). There are no limits to the numbers of international students who may be admitted. We welcome any and all students who are interested and qualified to attend WMU.
Australian National-
Adelaide-
Charles Sturt- The distribution of funds to the International Office and other sectors of the University, including faculties, library and administrative units, is undertaken on the basis of a negotiated formula.
Melbourne- Yes.
No, except for buildings.
A lot since we have a major graduate school.
Yes.
No. a
New South Wales-
South Australia- Yes there are policies on the distribution of revenue generated by these students between the central university and the teaching faculties. There is one revenue taken off the top for scholarships, bursaries and support services. The only limit to international students obtaining a place is capacity. There is a target of 10% of all the student population as a ceiling.
Aston- At present all income from overseas students goes into the central University funds (a bone of contention with many departments), except that the Aston Business school receives a proportion of premium fee income from its taught postgraduate programmes (eg the MBA). There are thus few incentives under the university's budget allocation model for individual departments - but this is likely to change in the near future. Aston does not offer any real scholarships or bursaries, although this policy is under review. There are some limits on overseas student numbers imposed by professional accrediting bodies (mainly in relation to the Business school).
Birmingham- The resoucing model adopted by this University means that your
sixth question cannot be answered directly. Leaving aside self-funding
activities (to which I refer below) all University general income is distributed
to University Schools by a funding formula driven principally by staff and
student FTEs. Each FTE is worth the same to the School (although the amount per
FTE varies between each School). Thus you will see that the income to our
Schools is essentially independent of whether it comes from a home or overseas
student. This follows on from the long standing view that the overseas fee
should be a full cost one; the unit of resource for a home student consists of
two elements, the very much smaller fee and an amount in the block grant to the
University from the Government.
Central services, including administration in general and specific services
for the support of overseas students, are funded by a tax on Schools, referred
to as a Community Charge.
The incentive for Schools to increase overseas recruitment is largely the
same as for them to recruit any student, ie. they gain an additional unit of
resource. However, because there are Government limits in place on the number of
Home undergraduate students which may be recruited, it can be argued that the
overseas market is the only one in which we are free to expand our numbers.
Many of our Schools operated programmes of study principally intended to
recruit students from overseas and to do so without the Government-funded grant.
Such programmes are referred to here as self-funding and are outside this
description.
Bradford- Yes.
Yes.
Same as u/g.
Yes. Numbers of home students fixed by Government Bodies. In theory no
limits on overseas fee payers but in practice there would be strong academic
resistance to more than 10% overall. Obviously there may be a larger percentage
of o/s fee payers in the English Language Centre and in the School of Education
and the International MBA.
Bristol- All income from students received by the University is distributed
to the departments in which the students are taught. Some funds are top-sliced
from the income received to fund research scholarships but these are not
specifically geared to overseas students. There is also a scheme with the
Overseas Development Administration whereby ODA pays the tuition fee and the
University pays the maintenance for these students who are all overseas students
and the cost of this is spread across all departments of the University.
Individual departments may give bursaries or scholarships for students to set
against the tuition fee payable. There is no direct specific support for
graduate students from overseas.
As all income from student tuition fees goes to the departments in which
those students are taught, there is incentive for those departments to take more
students. Some departments take more advantage of this than others. There is no
limit imposed from any outside body on the number of overseas students that the
University can admit but of Q6 continued....Page 4 course there are limits on
the amount of space for both teaching ad living accommodation and it is
generally felt that the University would not want to increase the proportion of
overseas students in the University as a whole above 15% of the total
enrollment.
East London- Central/Faculty split is 40/60. No specific revenue is topsliced, we have a l0% of enrollment limit
London School of Economics- No.
See other response.
hey have a planning target set centrally. The incentive is survival since
full-cost was applied to their fees.
Salford- Whilst different funding models were used in the past, the system
that will be applied at Salford with effect from the financial year 1996/97 is
one where all fee income goes to the departments except for a per capita amount
per student based on indirect costs. Since the fee income for an overseas
Engineering student will be 7,820 and for a home student will be 1,200 there is
an obvious incentive for academic departments to encourage International student
recruitment.
There are no official quotas on overseas recruitment though there are some
indirect restrictions imposed for instance by the professional institutions when
entry requirements can discriminate against international qualifications.
Popular departments too can impose percentage quotas on the number of
international students they can accept. There is no formal procedure for
to-slicing international fees for scholarships. The Research Institutes, on
their own initiative, can provide fee waivers or part fee waivers when there are
obvious advantages in accepting a good research student who cannot pay the full
economic costs.
None of the above refers to students from the European Union who, for all
intents and purposes, are treated as home students.
Sheffield Yes.
No.
We have recently established a graduate school to deal with home and
international graduates in recognition of their different needs compared to
those of undergraduates. Yes, the funding formula for departments acts as a
small incentive.
No, the University sets its own limits.
Warwick- The University has an Overseas Student Incentive Scheme which allocates resources to departments based on the number of students recruited. The more students recruited, the greater the proportion of overseas fee that goes to the department. There is no limit to the number of overseas students that can be recruited at the moment.