What Does Brexit Mean for International Students?

This is why you don’t play with fire, kids. The joke gets out of hand.

Today, Great Britain - or 52% of it, anyway - voted to leave the European Union after 43 years. Despite the best efforts of politicians in Britain and Europe to reassure the shocked nation (and the world!) results been undeniably immediate. The pound has fallen more than 10%, “a low not seen since 1985,” while the British stock market has plummeted in similar fashion. Prime Minister David Cameron has resigned.

So what does this all mean for international students who are neither British nor European? Honestly, we thought having to endure hours of talk on Brexit at every conference and every meal at hall was enough - now we face our adoptive country as we’ve never seen it before.

1. Britain hasn’t quite exited, yet.

The results of a referendum are not legally binding, though to NOT heed a clear result isn’t quite democratic, either. But as David Cameron has resigned, perhaps the Conservative government has nothing to lose! Okay...maybe I’m being a little far fetched. In any case, Article 50 of the EU’s treaty states that the leave will at least be drawn out and negotiable. Cameron has claimed that a tangible leave from the EU will only begin taking effect after two years. So the bottom line is: get ready to peace out before those two years are up! 

2. Sorry if you’ve already paid tuition. Everything else is about to get cheaper.

"It is not a good day for Europe." - John Cryan, Deutsche Bank

As mentioned earlier, the pound has gotten a lot cheaper over the last few hours. After months of begging the transfer rates to be in my favour, eating nothing but Tesco discount veggies and forgoing friendships for the sake of saving on cafe and pub outings, this Canadian finds it all a little surreal. The Great British Pound is now cheaper than the Euro or the American dollar. 

If you received a scholarship or were funded in pounds at the beginning of your term, it’s your win. But if, say, you exchanged two years’ worth of a corporate salary in Canadian dollars to a doubly expensive GBP last year to pay a proper Oxbridge tuition like meself, it’s a loss worth crying over. When I get back my dormitory deposit and the remaining credit on my battels, the money I handed over last year certainly won’t be the same coming back.

That 65p bag of jelly donuts at Tesco though? Even more satisfyingly affordable than ever. Until inflation hits.

3. Budget a little extra for all those entrance fees on your backpacking trips.

We're smiling because we got in for free.

Earlier this year, I had the chance to go on a field trip to the headquarters of OECD and UNESCO in Paris. Last year I visited Brussels, Cologne, and Berlin (thankfully I am still alive). It was a pleasant surprise to realize that my residency in Britain also enabled me to free entrance on most museums and public monuments in these cities. Many, many tourist attractions across the EU offer free or reduced fees for EU students. Sooner or later, however, British students will no longer be EU students.  Say what you will, but this is a pretty key detriment for our wanderlust-affected demographic!

4. Your mobility will be affected.

Membership in the EU was important (and controversial) for several reasons, and primary amongst them was the principle of free movement. The nationalistic xenophobic fervour amongst some areas of the UK was a driving force in pushing the out vote to success. Currently, international students are granted a Tier 4 visa which grants them residency of an EU country. In practice, it means that access to other European countries are much easier than otherwise. Now, the concept of a British residency is going to indicate very different terms. As a non-British, non-European, your status as a foreigner would be unchanged, but your temporary standing within this continent will change radically. 

5. There will be cuts to funding.

Many post-doctorates and graduate students I know will be directly affected by Britain's break from the EU - essentially, British academic institutions to European funding. According to an acquaintance who is teaching at the London School of Economics, his institution will be providing home rates to EU students until 2018, but it will be at their own cost.

International students may not have benefited directly from EU agreements that allowed lower tuition rates and scholarships, but many of us worked in labs and research projects that were supported by European funding. Not to mention that we were taught and supported by many faculty members who themselves were funded and given residency thanks to Britain's membership in the EU. This is a situation that applies to both social and natural sciences. 

6. At least we know the young and educated have less blood on their hands. 

More in common than we think. BTW Cambridge, we had a 0.1% greater turnout than you.

As a Canadian and citizen of the Commonwealth, I had the right to vote in this referendum and did so. Thousands of my millenial-aged neighbours did the same - though the prospects seem dark, we can have a peaceful conscience knowing that we turned out, and did what we could.

What won't give us peace, however, is that we'll be the ones bearing the costs. In many ways, Brexit was also a generational debate. The scope and weight of these costs remains to be seen in the months to come.

Julia JH Park is a Korean-Canadian graduate student at the University of Oxford. Her research area is on the educational assimilation patterns of North Korean refugees in South Korea and the UK. You can follow her on twitter, instagram, or her personal blog.

#StudentVoices #MillenialMe