UK universities build hotels to boost image

Many universities in Britain continue to build on-campus hotels in the effort of boosting their profile.

Travel Insurance News - 05/04/2012

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A recent survey conducted by the Wates construction firm has said that numerous schools are spending millions of pounds on special student villages for overseas students and improved bedrooms in addition to hotel facilities onsite.

The report said that about 79 per cent of UK universities plan to spend at least £5 million in order to build such additions in the coming year. Moreover, more than two-thirds of universities said they were to build new international student housing next year. Officials from Wates said that it compiled the report with responses from more than 50 universities and added that each was allowed to remain anonymous.

Wates’ Ian Vickers said to the BBC that the higher tuition fees mean that students are now expecting more from universities.

Experts say that such efforts come at a time when schools are facing heavier competition than ever before, which means they now are having to consider “students’ experience” in order to ensure that degree programs will gain enough financial support to remain sustainable.

And overseas students, whose tuition rates often exceed local upper level fees of £9,000, seem to have become a target market for schools, analysts say.

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