Higher education is one of the UK’s largest and most rapidly growing sources of international revenue. Only the US attracts more foreign students, and official forecasts suggest that export revenues for the sector could more than double to ￡17bn by 2025. Fees from these students account for more than a tenth of higher education income in England and they have a big economic impact off the campus too. More broadly, their contribution to cultural and intellectual life in the UK is immeasurable.

This success is now being put at risk by government immigration policies. A target to cut net immigration to the “tens of thousands” by 2015 puts international students – who represented two-fifths of total immigration in 2010-11 – in the line of fire. According to a recent analysis from the IPPR think-tank, meeting the target could mean cutting foreign student numbers by about 50,000, at an annual cost to the economy of ￡2bn-￡3bn. The rules covering students from outside the EU who want to stay for two years after graduation have already been tightened significantly, leading for some universities to falls of about a fifth in applications from Indian students this year. The UK Border Agency is putting intense pressure on several institutions, including well-run ones, where vice-chancellors claim they are having to account for their international students’ whereabouts almost in real time.

Now the UKBA has dropped a depth charge on London Metropolitan University by revoking its licence to sponsor visas entirely. This removes a large chunk of the university’s revenues and means that about 2,600 existing students will have to find a new place to study in the next 60 days, or leave the UK.