A proposal to increase visa extension fees is likely to prevent overseas students from coming to Britain, senior university leaders and the British Council have warned.
There are plans to increase the fees - applicable if a student already in Britain wants to extend the visa - from the current 155 pounds to 400 pounds.
The current charges are already causing considerable hardship, it was claimed.
Neil Kemp, the head of the British Council's campaign to recruit overseas students, told the media: "We're really worried about the fees for visa extension they are talking about. They are causing considerable hardship among students and we want the Home Office to reconsider."
A spokeswoman for Universities UK (UUK), the university vice-chancellors' group, added: "Increased charges will be seen as a tax on coming to or staying in the UK to study.
"They (charges) will damage the UK's reputation abroad and undermine the prime minister's initiative".
The call to drop the charges was backed by the Council for International Education and the Standing Conference of Principals, which represents the heads of university colleges, as the organisations jointly published a survey of 5,000 international students.
The findings revealed that a quarter of students say they do not have enough money to live on, either because they are taken by surprise at the high cost of living in Britain, or suffer from poor exchange rates.
{{/usCountry}}The findings revealed that a quarter of students say they do not have enough money to live on, either because they are taken by surprise at the high cost of living in Britain, or suffer from poor exchange rates.
{{/usCountry}}Benson Osawe, the international officer at the National Union of Students, said: "The expectation of international students is very high, but they can be very disappointed that the UK government is not advanced in meeting their needs.
"The visa charges are ridiculous when they already contribute so much to the economy. Institutions need to increase the amount of support to international students as well," he added.
One Turkish postgraduate told researchers: "The new Home Office fees for student visa extensions are outrageous. Britain tries to attract foreign students and then rips them off in this way."
Another student from Hong Kong claimed that immigration officials had been impolite. "They asked questions like inspecting criminals and gave us (a) very, very bad and unfriendly impression."
A spokesperson for the Home Office said: "The introduction of charges for non-asylum immigration applications is already raising over 80 million pounds each year towards the cost of managing migration. It is only right that those who use our services pay for them rather than the taxpayer.
"We have always said that we will review the charges on an annual basis. We are currently reviewing the fee ranges for 2005-06 with a view to introducing revised fees from April 2005."