Applications remained steady after Finland introduced fees for most international students but actual enrolments declined and those from lower-middle-income countries who did come were prompted to work harder,?a new study has found.

Using data from the Finnish National Agency for Education and other sources, the academics Charles Mathies, Hannu Karhunen and Stephen DesJardins the impact of tuition fees on student intakes and behaviour between 2015 and 2019.

Finland introduced tuition fees for students from outside the European Economic Area?in 2017. Denmark, Sweden and Norway all have similar policies in place.

While the number of applications from potential fee-paying students did not decrease after non-EEA tuition fees were introduced, the researchers did observe a decline in the admission and enrolment of such students.

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¡°Roughly for every €1,000 increase in tuition fees, there was a 1 per cent loss of fee-paying international students enrolling,¡± said Mathies, an assistant professor at Old Dominion University in the United States and a former researcher at Finland¡¯s University of Jyv?skyl?.

Mathies said the consistent application rates before and after the implementation of fees were likely to reflect the continued attractiveness of the Finnish higher education system to international students.

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The researchers speculated that the change in enrolments, meanwhile, could be attributed to one of two reasons. ¡°Either international students from fee-paying countries were ¡®priced out¡¯ of attending, or they found a substitute,¡± Mathies said, adding that applicants may have, from their perspective, ¡°found ¡®better value¡¯ for their money and time¡± elsewhere.

The introduction of fees ¡°changed the composition¡± of the international student body, Mathies noted, with more students enrolling from high-income countries and fewer from lower-middle-income countries, according to World Bank country classifications. This shift ¡°suggests that it may not just be personal or family wealth that influences if and where students study, but [also] the relative wealth of the home country of international students¡±, he commented.

Enrolled students from low- and lower-middle-income countries were ¡°incentivised to earn more credits in their first year of study after the introduction of tuition fees¡±, the researchers further determined, a change that was not observed in students from wealthy countries. ¡°If students take longer to graduate, they end up paying more for their degree,¡± Mathies explained.

The study findings have significant equity implications, he said: ¡°Talent or ability is not located only in individuals from wealthy countries, but they may be the only ones who can participate in international education as the costs to attend increase.¡±

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Of the top five countries of origin for international students worldwide, Mathies noted, three are considered lower-middle-income: India, Vietnam and Uzbekistan. According to the World Bank, three-quarters of the world¡¯s population live in middle-income countries.

The impact of tuition fees on students from lower-middle-income countries, therefore, should be ¡°concerning¡± to countries that,?like Finland, aim to increase their international intake. ¡°It suggests institutions and countries may price their degrees out of reach of most individuals who would be interested in studying in their country,¡± Mathies said.

emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com