Research On The British’s Overseas Student Policy During Margaret Thatcher Period

Before1979The British government needed one hundred million to subside to the overseas students. After1979, for the sake of prospering the economy, the conservative government decided to reduce public expenditure and gradually canceled subsidy to overseas student. The full-cost policy and the special scholarship scheme became the main theme of overseas student policy. Under the direction of market-oriented principle and striving for excellence, the government adjusted the emphasis of policy. So the full-cost policy experienced the beginning, expanding and the turning.But there were always the deviations going against the policy original intention in three stages.In the initial stage of Thatcher, British began to implement the full-cost policy (1979-1983). At that time, the conservative government meant to reduce the public expenditure. But in the face of the pressure from the vice-president and overseas student organization, the government was forced to establish the Overseas Student Research Student Award Scheme and Pym package. The second stage is the expanding of the full-cost policy (1984-1986). During this period, coping with the condition of fund reducing and demand to improve the education quality, colleges began to take measures to attract the overseas students. In order to fulfill the promise to enhance the higher education quality of British Commonwealth, the conservative government set up the Chevening Scholarship and Department for International Development Shared Scholarship Scheme. But the implement of the two scholarships indirectly cut down the money that the colleges raised up. The third stage is the turning point of full-cost policy (1987-1991). The conservative government changed to increase the funds. But the benefit only focused on students from the British Commonwealth and ignored the weak. Because colleges obtained a lot of money from overseas students in the second stage, they began their plans. So the colleges in Britain deviated from the university ideas.The full-cost policy in Britain brought the enormous economic profit. The full-cost policy was dominated by market which made the colleges striving for excellence and sacrificing the equity. Now expanding the overseas student proportion and optimizing overseas student structure are the tendency of overseas student policy development in China. In order to avoid the curve road of overseas student policy,our overseas student policy should take educational value and economic value, to efficiency and fairness in to consideration, to promote the internationalization of higher education.