Recommendation 58

Throughout our inquiry we also heard about the non-financial benefits EU students provide to Scottish universities, including that: • EU students enrich campuses by “creating multinational, multicultural learning environments”, which is of “tremendous benefit to our home students in Scotland”.138 131 Scottish university admissions figures, Universities Scotland, 4 August 2020 132 Q140 & Q167 133 “UCAS data cause for assurance in value of Scottish higher education”, Universities Scotland, 18 February 2021 134 “UCAS data cause for assurance in value of Scottish higher education”, Universities Scotland, 18 February 2021 135 Q124 136 Scottish Parliament, The impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) on university funding in Scotland (23 July 2020), p 3 137 Scottish Parliament, The impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) on university funding in Scotland (23 July 2020), p 15 138 Q135 [Rachel Sandison, University of Glasgow] 26 Universities and Scotland • A significant number of EU students apply for vital science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects139 and subject areas that are very hard to recruit to from within the local Scottish ecosystem.140 • EU students stay in Scotland after their studies far more than other international students do.141 Sustaining EU student numbers post-Brexit