The net benefit is about £257m each year and takes into account the impact on public services such as the NHS.
In 2014, 34,670 students travelled from outside the European Union (EU) to study in Scotland.
But PwC said its research showed the overall experience of foreign students is compromised by the UK's complex immigration system.
The auditors claim this also has an impact on their ability to secure work following graduation and has called on the UK government to improve its data collection around migration.
The PwC calculation does not include the value to Scotland of non-fee spending (including accommodation, travel and leisure) by students from outside the UK, or non-fee spending by EU students, most of whom do not have to pay tuition fees.
Lindsey Paterson, from PwC in Scotland, said: "With a lot at stake, not just for the Scottish and UK economy but for the future growth and prosperity of our higher education establishments, it's clear that more needs to be done to inform and improve immigration policies and targets."
She added: "Our Scottish universities and colleges are competing in a global marketplace and it's vital that government supports them in attracting the brightest academic talent not just from here in the UK, but from the EU and further afield.
"International students not only help to broaden our own students' vision and perspective in the classroom but have a major economic impact through their fees and consumer spending."
PwC has recommended that the UK classify students as temporary visitors, not migrants, as is the case in Canada and Australia. It claims this will make it easier for international students to work in the UK post-graduation.

Sarries beat Tigers in the final round of pool matches, and will play Aaron Mauger's side at Allianz Park again.
Quins, seventh in the top-flight, go to an Exeter side hoping to reach the final for the third time in a row.
Welsh regions Dragons, Scarlets, Ospreys and Cardiff all failed to make it into the last four.
The Anglo-Welsh Cup did not take place last year due to the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
The semi-finals will take place between 10-12 March, with the final to be staged at the Twickenham Stoop.

The animals are easier to spot in spring when vegetation is low and the breeding season is under way.
Hares may be declining in parts of the UK, while rabbits have been hit by myxomatosis and other viral diseases, says the Mammal Society.
People are being asked to send in photographs of rabbits and hares to help map the UK population.
Dr Fiona Mathews, senior lecturer in mammalian biology and chair of the Mammal Society, said: "We have very poor information on rabbits and hares - and it's important to know if numbers are going up or down.
"They are part of the ecosystem and lots of other animals depend on them, either through grazing of their habitat or as a food source for foxes or birds of prey."
She said some parts of the UK had very low populations of rabbits and hares, particularly where there had been disease outbreaks. However, in other regions they have become so abundant they have become agricultural pests.
The Mammal society wants people across the country to send in sightings of wild rabbits or hares across the countryside, including parks, fields and mountains.
The data will be used in a national atlas of mammals to support future conservation and research projects.
Derek Crawley, who is co-ordinating the atlas, said rabbits and hares can be distinguished by their gait and appearance.
"Hares are larger, have long limbs and lollop along whereas the rabbit has a bobbing gait," he said.
"The ears are also distinctive: those of hares are longer and have black tips."
Sightings of rabbits and hares, or their signs in the countryside, such as droppings and burrows, with any photographs taken, can be reported via the Mammal Tracker app, The Mammal Society website, or by posting information to The Mammal Society.
Overseas students boost the Scottish economy by about £312m each year, according to figures from auditors PwC.
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Reigning champions Saracens will host Leicester, with Exeter at home to Harlequins in an all-Premiership semi-final line-up in the Anglo-Welsh Cup.
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Biologists are calling on the public to report sightings of rabbits and hares as part of a conservation effort.