In this paper, we view higher education institutions (HEIs) as multi-product service exporters and use UK data to assess how they alter their product scope, i.e., their degree programme provision, in response to shocks to the composition of foreign students vs domestic students. We find that while on average HEIs do not increase the overall degree programme variety offered, they alter its composition by increasing its differentiation across subject areas. These results are driven by the postgraduate level of studies and new (Post-92) HEIs particularly, indicating that newly established institutions (former polytechnics) exploit the rise in exports to establish themselves in the market and compete with the older and more established institutions beyond their traditional core-competences.

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