A new report on the economic benefits that international students bring to Britain’s economy warns that the country cannot afford to be complacent about its status as the second most popular destination for foreign students, after the United States. From 1998 to 2004, Britain’s share of the market for international students declined from 16 percent to 11 percent, although there has been such a boom in the overall numbers that that it still drew more students.

Unlike their counterparts in many other European countries, British universities charge students from outside the European Union higher tuition than home students pay. The Higher Education Policy Institute, the think tank that produced the report, says that in the face of growing international competition — especially as European universities synchronize their degree programs through the Bologna Process — British universities could “begin to struggle to maintain numbers while charging the sorts of prices that are charged at present.”

The report says that “it would be in the national interest for the taxpayer to subsidize international students — as is the case with EU students — in order to maximize the number who attend our universities, and so provide the greatest benefit to the country as a whole, looking beyond the narrow interests of universities.” —Aisha Labi