“I want to be greedy” – Scotland’s higher ed minister on retaining international students

Unlike many study destinations, Scotland is increasing its efforts to not only attract international students but to keep them.

Speaking exclusively with The PIE News at the 2025 European Association for International Education (EAIE) conference, higher and further education minister Graeme Dey stressed the long-term value international students bring to Scotland – and the opportunities Scotland must offer in return.

The very presence of a minister at the Gothenburg conference is a strong signal of Scotland’s commitment to international education, and it follows the launch of the country’s first international education strategy in February 2024, providing publicly funded institutions with added value and a renewed incentive to build on their tradition of collaboration in pursuit of Scotland’s international education ambitions.

“I’m a little bit uncomfortable about the way that we always talk about international students as a commodity,” Dey told The PIE.

“Of course the income from international students is important – we don’t hide from that – but these individuals enrich our universities, they enrich our communities, and I think we’ve got to be careful not to get too focused in on the monetisation of this and remind ourselves of the benefits there are to our communities of having international students and staff coming to Scotland.”

With undergraduate tuition free for domestic students in Scotland, international fees – alongside government funding – play a crucial role in sustaining universities.

I think we collectively, whether that’s politicians or the people who work in the sector, have to really get much better at telling the story about the benefits that that  come from international students
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“I think we collectively, whether that’s politicians or the people who work in the sector, have to really get much better at telling the story about the benefits that that  come from international students,” he explained.

The latest HESA statistics from 2023/24 show 73,915 students from outside the UK studying in Scotland – a 12% fall from 83,975 the year before.

“I want to be greedy here. I’m not just talking about recruiting international students,” said Dey. “I want to be in a position where we can persuade these individuals to stay in Scotland beyond their studies and be able to facilitate that.”

In 2024, Scotland’s Migration Service platform launched, providing information and advice for international students considering staying in Scotland post-graduation.

The service provides information and offers individual appointments with trained advisors to international students in their final year at a Scottish university or college and who would like to stay in Scotland after graduating.

Importantly, the service is also open to employers based in Scotland who would like to hire international workers, people who have moved to Scotland within the past six months and investors based in another country who would like to set up or expand a business in Scotland.

In recent months, the Scottish government has also appointed a trade and investment envoy for international education – Rachel Sandison, deputy vice-chancellor (external engagement) and vice-principal (external relations) at the University of Glasgow.

A recognised leader in the sector, alongside her university role, Sandison is working with the government to promote Scotland’s academic institutions and research expertise and draw on her international connections to bridge universities with other global institutions to attract more students and staff to live, work and study in Scotland.

The 2026 EAIE conference will take place in Glasgow, Scotland on the September 8-11.

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