英国脱欧后，他们可能上不起学了？
在英国求学的意大利留学生玛蒂娜·罗托洛说，英国脱离欧盟后学费将会飙涨，对来自欧盟成员国的学生来说，到英国求学将会变得困难重重。
罗托洛举例说，英国脱欧后，欧盟国家的学生在英国攻读博士学位的学费标准将不再按英国学生约4000英镑的标准计算，而是改为国际留学生的2.2万英镑。罗托洛还表示，欧盟国家的学生此后也不再具备申请英国学生贷款的资格。
Martina Rotolo moved from Italy to the UK two years ago, to follow her dream of studying urban planning at the prestigious London School of Economics in the country's capital.
She loved the course and found a real passion in the subject, which is hardly covered in Italian universities. So after finishing her Masters degree, she set her mind on continuing her studies with a PhD in the UK.
But in between Rotolo and her vision of her future came a huge obstacle: Brexit.
"I still remember in 2016 when there were the exit polls of the Brexit referendum, and for me it was a tragedy," says Rotolo, who is now back to her hometown of Atessa, in the region of Abruzzo.
Rotolo is now looking for PhD applications in the UK, but she's concerned about the new challenges posed by Brexit: most importantly, the higher university fees European students now have to pay as 'overseas students.'
"The European students who decided to do a doctorate in England in the pre-Brexit era without the help of a scholarship had to pay the same fees as the English students, the maximum you could get to pay was about 4,000 pounds [$5,500]," explains Rotolo.
"Now, students who enrolled between 2021 and 2022 for a doctoral fee get to pay 22,000 pounds [$30,000], which is precisely the overseas fee."
While Rotolo was aware competition was always fierce to be admitted into a PhD program in the UK, she thinks that now, even if she was chosen as the right candidate, she wouldn't be able to afford to pay the fee required to support her studies without obtaining a scholarship.
"And then there is another problem, which is that since Brexit European students are no longer allowed to apply for loans – the British government does not offer this possibility to Europeans in the post-Brexit period," she explains.
Rotolo's hopes are all hanging on the chance of getting a scholarship. "I am currently doing applications and...let's see how it goes."
According to the British Council, more than 16,000 Italian students study in the UK annually. This number was constantly growing, year on year, until 2020. What the future holds might be a bleaker version of the many opportunities Italian and European students have experienced until now.
"I certainly think that many kids – not necessarily my generation, but younger – have always seen the opportunity to live in London, to study in London as a great opportunity to grow up," says Rotolo.
"I think this has become more difficult with Brexit precisely because of the cost it imposes on families and students. Also the idea of having to go to England with a visa is something that is far away from what we could ever have imagined."