What will Brexit mean for the future development of Britain and the United States?

Since Brexit, the public has been paying attention to the UK, and various people have been causing various speculations about various aspects of the UK. Many of them are particularly concerned about studying in the UK. Next, the editor of Tiandao will mainly analyze the impact of Brexit on international students studying in the UK, hoping to help everyone.

The cost of studying abroad: exchange rate and price chain reactions are intertwined with ups and downs

Affected by the Brexit referendum, the pound once fell by more than 10 against the US dollar, hitting the lowest level since 1985. According to Citibank's prediction, after the UK leaves the EU, the pound may plummet by 10 to 20 against the US dollar, and the exchange rate against the RMB will also fall sharply. If the tuition fee for studying in the UK is 15,000 pounds and living expenses are 10,000 pounds, it can save 24,000 pounds a year. to 48,000 yuan. Judging from pure data, it seems that the cost of studying abroad will be reduced a lot.

However, are things really so wonderful? In fact, changes in the cost of studying abroad are the result of the simultaneous action of many factors such as exchange rates, prices, and employment. On the one hand, if "Brexit" succeeds, the pound will definitely face greater depreciation pressure, which will naturally lower the exchange rate of the pound against the RMB. Tuition fees will decrease in the short term, but the pound will soon return to rationality. In addition, if the UK successfully leaves the EU, its trade partnership with the EU will definitely loosen in the short term. This part of the loss can only be made up by means such as raising prices. Coupled with the unfavorable economic environment, the overall price of goods in the UK will rise, and the living expenses of international students will "rise all boats". Therefore, international students will find that the lower exchange rate has finally reduced tuition fees, but the sharp increase in prices, coupled with the sharp increase in living expenses caused by the exchange rate, will naturally make the living expenses of studying abroad "increasing". In a word, the price and tuition fluctuations caused by the depreciation of the pound quickly disappeared.

Study Abroad Decision: A Game of Common Sense Rationality and Realism

The UK is one of the highlands of higher education in the world, and it is also a popular study abroad destination in the world, so study in the UK The number of Chinese students has always been in a "steady and rising" trend, and most of them tend to choose business majors with high investment returns, such as accounting, finance, marketing, etc. Since the UK usually only takes one year to study for a postgraduate degree, the main purpose of studying in the UK is to study for a master's degree. The "short, easy and fast" characteristics also make many families choose to send their children to study abroad in the UK. Therefore, no matter what changes will happen to the UK after Brexit, the craze for studying in the UK will not fade away easily.

For this reason, in recent years, the admission requirements for Chinese students in top-ranked universities in the UK have been continuously increasing. The tightening immigration policy in recent years has made Chinese students feel "very unwelcome."

In fact, if you consider the decision to study abroad rationally from a common sense perspective, a country like the UK with high tuition fees and difficult employment and immigration is not suitable for studying abroad at all. However, the uniqueness of education lies in the kind of feeling deep in the hearts of parents. The irrational value expectation of “hoping for a son to succeed and a daughter to succeed” breaks the conventional choice of study abroad destination. After all, in addition to studying abroad fees, employment, visas and other issues, there are many details that will affect students and parents to make rational decisions about studying abroad. Therefore, whether the overall cost of studying abroad rises or falls, it will hardly affect the enthusiasm of wealthy domestic middle-class families to send their children to study in the UK.

Employment in the UK: The difficulty of competition for opportunities has not yet been determined

For a long time, it has been difficult for "international students" including Chinese students to stay in the UK. After Brexit, it is expected that up to 200,000 Europeans working in London will choose to leave the UK, which may be good news for Chinese students currently in the UK. However, the large amount of brain drain that reduces the competition rate does not mean that it is easier to obtain job opportunities in the UK. Compared with the 820,000 jobs lost due to Brexit, the reduction in competitors may still pale into insignificance.

When looking for a job in the UK, the real competitors for Chinese students are Eastern Europeans. After Brexit, the decrease in EU students will lead to a large brain drain and fewer competitors. Both Chinese students and EU students will become "international students." The competitiveness of Chinese students will be relatively enhanced, and employment opportunities will also increase.

However, in recruitment interviews, Chinese students must show greater competitiveness in all aspects in order to be able to take the lead in the competition with Eastern Europeans or British locals.

Coins often have two sides. Brexit will cause a blow to the EU's economy and finance in the short term. As the economy is affected by Brexit, British jobs will shrink and employment pressure will increase. The most direct manifestation is that it will be more difficult to obtain labor visas from EU member states. As a result, the "coupons" used by other European countries will no longer be available. The labor force in China and other EU countries are on the same starting line, so immigration and employment policies will be relatively loose.