School-leavers keen to take a degree but scared of racking up thousands of pounds of debt in Britain are being offered tempting packages - and the chance of an adventure - by universities in Asia.
Harvard and Yale, the prestigious American universities, already offer lucrative funding to poach the brightest British teenagers. But now they face new competition from the East. Universities from South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Thailand recently visited London to promote themselves to a British audience.
Ivy League competition
Many of their courses are taught in English, and they are trying to lure school-leavers by claiming that studying abroad will make them more attractive to future employers.
While Ivy League universities offer some generous bursaries, including living costs, competition to get a place is fierce and few succeed.
Students are expected not only to be academically brilliant, but well-rounded individuals with plenty of extra-curricular interests. Emma Watson, the Harry Potter actress, has reportedly visited American universities with a view to studying there.
Now Asian universities want to muscle in on the act. Eleven of them visited a university fair in London last month to find out how to market themselves to British teenagers.
They could find a receptive audience: fears over the recession mean increasing numbers of sixth-formers are questioning the cost of a degree - and how much value for money it represents.
A government review of England's top-up tuition fees will take place this year, and is expected to recommend that the