Boundaries of belonging: differential fees for overseas students, c.1967

In 1967 the British government announced that, starting in the 1967–-68 academic year, there would be different tuition fees for ‘home’ and ‘overseas’ students at British universities and colleges. This policy required drawing a clear distinction between those who belonged in Britain and those who did not, and highlighted significant confusion and misunderstanding about overseas students. This chapter explores the shifting sands in the way that overseas students were understood. It particularly examines how overseas students were being racialised by both supporters and critics of the new fees as they perpetuated stereotypes of black people, and black students as poor, destitute, and in need of British assistance.