International student numbers will increase in the coming years, if Trinity has its way. Despite repeated concerns about space, international students still remain an ever-important market for College.
Of course, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Trinity’s €4.9 million deficit is reason enough to keep targeting a reliably lucrative revenue stream, with College unlikely to sniff twice at a financial strategy that has been adopted in universities across the world.
Yet the government isn’t making it easy for Trinity, despite action plan after action plan rallying universities to increase international student intake. We are in the midst of an accommodation crisis, where students are often priced out of a place to live. Then there is a myriad of other issues, such as Ireland’s visa system for international students– an unnecessary stumbling block for the sector.
These students are further likely to find themselves in limbo after leaving College, with complex rules and regulations that make it difficult for many to stay in Ireland. Put simply, considering the prices students pay, Ireland is becoming increasingly less attractive for international students.
So what does that mean for Trinity? Well, one of Provost Patrick Prendergast’s aims for Trinity is to be a university of global consequence. It may seem intuitive for a university to want to grow, and Trinity has a lower international student ratio than any university in the top 100 in the world rankings – making it into this top 100 has been a long-term ambition of Prendergast’s. However, those universities have not upped their student numbers in a long time. That is not their goal and they offer an attractive return on investment for those willing to travel for their education.
Trinity is still at a more desperate stage, craving growth but lacking in the capacity. With plans for a second campus and no shortage of ambition, we’re becoming increasingly familiar with the tough choices that will shape the direction of our education long into the future.
