Foreign students: Benefit or burden to Norway?

By Paul Beaumont. Sweden, Denmark and Germany are the latest countries to start charging fees to foreign students. Norway increasingly appears like a last beacon of kindness; or a beacon of stupidity if you take the other view. ‘The sucker’ in a prisoner’s dilemma game of co-operation.
This might sound far-fetched, but consider that the reputation of school is as much based on its students and alumni as on its teaching. At the moment, I am at Aas University, where the teaching and lecturing are arguably superior to the internationally prestigious LSE in many ways (where I did my undergrad degree). The key difference is that the other students at LSE had to beat off famously stiff competition to get in (or be a member of some international elites; sons of dictators that sort of thing) and so people assume you have to be smart to go there.
With a little bit of promotion, getting into Norway could become prestigious too. In a few years, Norway could become famous for being the only country in the world that values education so highly it provides it for free to foreigners, provided they can beat off the ferocious competition for the prized few places. This will quickly become self-sustaining as talented alumni leave. Norway’s reputation as a place to go will grow, attracting more talented alumni. LSE’s laissez faire attitude to its students shows how this can happen almost on its own.
The next Norwegian government must look long and hard before following the flock on higher education. This is a question of ambition, whether Norway wants to look inwards and think small, or look outwards and think big. Norway might be able to save a little by introducing fees, but certainly not without losing a lot in terms of human capital and massive long term reputational gains.
Indeed if it backs itself, then there is no reason why Norway's universities could be home to some of the brightest in the world in a few years’ time, and Norway itself could become a byword for elite university education, adding to its existing soft power palette of oil, development and environmental. All without any additional costs to the Norwegian tax payer and absolutely no A-ha. Read more...