University looking for 1,000 foreign students

The number of international students at the University of Lincoln could shoot up by 600 per cent by 2015, bosses have revealed.

Officials at the university are aiming to increase the number of lucrative students from outside the European Union from around 200 now to 1,200 in five years.

Such students pay around four times as much to study here – and the move could significantly boost university coffers at a time when budgets are being cut by the Government.

It could also give a major boost to the local economy.

There are currently around 10,000 students at the university – around 98 per cent of whom are British or from the EU.

The radical new step is aimed at turning it into an international institution – but will have no impact on the intake of British students.

Bosses admit it could be a challenge for the city and the university – but say it is one they are ready to take on.

Manjeet Ridon, the newly appointed director of international at the university, said: "The organisation is keen to grow much more.

"The ambition is there for it to be a global university, and in order to do that it needs to look further afield."

Every university in the country is handed funding for the recruitment of British and European students.

There is a cap on these numbers which universities are not allowed to go beyond.

But there is no such cap on international students.

Now the university wants to look to countries such as China, Nigeria and Malaysia in order to bring in more people and more money.