International students, export earnings and the demands of global justice

Is it just to charge international students fees that are generally much higher than those paid by home and European Union students at UK universities? Exploring the ethical tension between universities' avowed commitment to social justice on the one hand and selling education to foreign students at a premium on the other, we argue that increased global association and the reduced salience of the sovereign state make the education of international students an issue of global justice. If we view education as a global public good, the ethics of higher education provision call for reconsideration of both the current fee regime and of universities' role in a competitive global economy.