The Government has frozen international student starts for 2027, “providing stability and certainty for the sector.” Friday’s announcement followed a 25 per cent increase in visa application fees announced mid-week.
“These steps are all about ensuring international student numbers remain on a more sustainable path and Australia’s international education sector remains resilient, high-quality, and globally competitive, while producing more value for Australia,” Education Minister Jason Clare and colleagues announced Friday.
But the announcement was performative given the Government announced it expects 2027 commencements to be below the 295,000 ceiling. Starts so far in 2025 are 8% down on 2025 and 13% lower than the 2019 pre-pandemic peak.
So far this year, 100,300 students have started or have a visa for a promised place at a public university, well down on the 161,000 indicative allocation for the year. In the absence of unlikely second-semester surges, only a handful will come near their quotas. Monash U and the Unis of Melbourne and Sydney are alone in reaching 80% of their allowed enrolments so far.
Private HE provider quotas are yet to be announced, with a guarantee of no cut in 2025; while VET providers with more than 100 commencers will have a 3.5% increase. Quotas will not apply to TAFE.
Universities Australia did not mention the visa fee increase in its resigned response but warned “If the government keeps making Australia more expensive and more difficult for genuine students to choose, we’re going to fall short – and we’re already seeing that risk emerge.”
Nor did it explain what it mean by the “current context,” that made the no-growth announcement “appropriate” but warned, “the bigger problem is that the policy settings behind the number are making even this steady target harder to reach.”
Which rather appears to be the government’s intent.
The Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) joined the International Students Representative Council of Australia in calling out the sudden, steep rise in visa fees, which are helping the Government to further constrict demand, while also pushing Australian education beyond the reach of middle class families.
ISRC President Weihong Liang last week urged prospective international students to, “be prepared for the possibility that the cost, conditions and future pathways attached to studying in Australia may change suddenly, with little notice and limited accountability. Studying in Australia may now involve substantially higher costs and greater policy risk than many students and families originally expected.”
ABDC President Maryam Omari said the latest visa fee hikes were short-sighted and exploitative.
“The fee hikes are part and parcel of a lack of positive regard for the international education sector by policymakers. It is short-sighted, because international education supports research and education across the university sector, making up for shortfalls in federal government funding,” Professor Omari said.