GLASGOW had never looked so good.
A Herald investigation into a string of bogus colleges in 2007 uncovered a prospectus for the Commonwealth College Glasgow which featured the Gothic Grand Place in Brussels on its front cover rather than George Square.
And just how were college staff going to get the horses for the equine science management course up the tenement stairs and into the top floor flat?
It was typical of the sort of bogus operation being run at the time - institutions with prestigious names and lavish websites describing state-of-the art facilities and highly specialised courses.
In fact, most were based in private flats or rundown office blocks and were easy to identify because they were using logos of recognised educational and industry bodies on their websites without permission.
The scam was a simple one. By registering as a college with the Home Office these bogus education providers were given licences to recruit and teach overseas students, often with little more than a rudimentary check.
Once registered, overseas “students” could then register with the “college” and secure a visa to come to Britain, Instead of studying, however, they went to work, with many enrolling on a second course at the same institution when the first visa ran out.
It was clear action had to be taken and the Westminster Government moved to make it harder to set up a college as well as introducing visa restrictions to reduce numbers travelling to Britain.
Unfortunately, the policy has had some significant unintended consequences which are now causing a great deal of concern amongst legitimate universities and colleges.
The number of overseas students from key countries such as India and Nigeria has fallen significantly - although expansion in China has helped make up the difference.
The decline is significant because universities rely on the lucrative fees paid by overseas students to bolster their public funding - with institutions charging as much as £17,000 a year.
In 2014 Scottish universities saw income from overseas students rise to a record £374 million in 2014, while international students also contribute an estimated £441m annually to the economy.
The final report of the Smith Commission published in November 2014 recommended the Scottish and UK Governments explore a formal scheme to allow international higher education students graduating from Scotland to remain for a “defined period of time”.
In fact, the reverse seems to be happening. Students are now allowed four months to find a graduate job paying at least £20,800 or face having to leave the country, with the threshold potentially set to increase further to £23,000.
Universities Scotland, which represents the sector, said countries like New Zealand, Canada, Australia and America were attracting more international students at the expense of Scotland just as the country faces a skill gap in keys fields such as science, IT and engineering.
By seeking to clamp down on bogus colleges, the Westminster Government appears to be damaging the ability of some of our most prestigious universities to compete internationally.
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