Foreign students contribute £240m

Foreign students are an important source of income for universities

Overseas students are contributing £240m annually to the East Midlands economy, research by the BBC shows.

There are currently 15,000 foreign students undertaking degree or post-graduate studies at seven universities in the area.

They each spend at least £16,000 a year on tuition fees and living expenses, it is estimated.

About a quarter of all foreign students are from China, along with a large contingent from India.

Impact of foreign students De Montfort, Leicester: 505 students, £8m Derby: 102 students, £1.5m Leicester: 5,328 students, £85m Lincoln: 162 students, £2.5m Loughborough: 2,277 students, £36m Nottingham: 5,235 students, £84m Nottingham Trent: 1,371 students, £22m

The overseas market is an increasingly important source of income in higher education, with universities using foreign language websites and employing staff to attract students, according to university officials.

Nottingham, Leicester and Loughborough universities are most successful, largely because of their high standing in the university rankings.

Martin Binks from Nottingham University Business School said the impact on the local economy was not to be underestimated.

"There's a multiplier effect when this money is spent in that it's re-spent by the people who receive it."