- International student admissions will be reduced
- About 20,000 fewer visitors will be accepted
Australia is set to cut its international student intake by almost 20,000 – or about seven per cent – as their influx is blamed for skyrocketing house and rent prices.
On Tuesday, federal Education Minister Jason Clare announced that the government would set the number of international student start dates by calendar year 2025 at 270,000.
Universities will host around 145,000 of those international students, with a further 95,000 on vocational education and training (VET) courses, which the government says will bring numbers back to pre-pandemic levels.
The long-awaited move has been criticised by the higher education sector, which has become heavily reliant on foreign students paying fees in advance.
However, the government says the move will strengthen integrity in the sector rather than allowing many newcomers to enroll in courses that are little more than a means to securing permanent residency.
He believes limiting numbers will strengthen the “social license” for student influx.
ABC economist Alan Kohler last week explained the conflicting objectives of the government and the tertiary sector.
“The current Labor government’s view is that universities have become addicted to overseas students and should not be deciding Australia’s population growth based on their desire for revenue,” Kohler wrote for The New Daily.
“The government should manage it in the national interest, especially amid a housing shortage.”
Australia to cut international student intake by nearly 20,000 after record enrollment reported this year
Figures for the year to May 2024 reported that there were 810,960 international student enrolments (up 17 per cent on 2019 pre-Covid figures) in universities and VET courses, with graduations also up 16 per cent at 289,230 over the same period.
At the same time, the government is also under pressure to curb net outbound migration from a reported peak of 528,000 in 2022-23 to 260,000 this financial year.
On July 1, the government quietly doubled the application fee for international student visas from $710 to $1,600, and Clare defended the decision as a way to inject revenue into education initiatives.
On Tuesday, federal Education Minister Jason Clare announced that the government would set the number of international students starting classes at 270,000 by calendar year 2025 as part of its yet-to-be-legislated National Planning Level (NPL).
While Tuesday’s announcement focused on the overall cap, each individual university will be assigned a specific figure based on the International Student Profile (ISP).
George Williams, vice-chancellor and president of Western Sydney University, said international students in Western Sydney, a key growth area for the government, were critical to addressing Australia’s “shortage of key skills” such as nursing.
He said Western Sydney Airport, due to open in 2026, and the surrounding mini-city of Bradfield would also require “international students to fill a key skills gap”.
In financial terms, Professor Williams said a significant cap on student numbers would also restrict the university’s ability to provide equity programs, such as food distribution and support, to students with low socioeconomic status.
“When it comes to our university, we have the highest number of low socioeconomic students in the country,” he said during a Senate inquiry into the proposed restrictions on Monday.
“Because what we are hearing from these students is that they are unable to study and eat, and international students provide a key source of income to support domestic students, who would otherwise not be able to study at university if it were not for the support we can provide them.”