NEW DELHI, Sept 2: Australia introduced new restrictions on international students’ enrollment and has capped the number of overseas students at 270,000 for the year 2025.
This limit will apply to both higher education and vocational courses and applies to fresh international students who will begin their studies in Australia for the first time in 2025. Students enrolling themselves in school, postgraduate research students and some English Language students have been exempted from the cap, reports said.
The cap for public universities has been set at 145,000 for new international students based on the percentage of international enrollments on campuses. Private universities and non-higher education institutions will have a limit of 30,000 new students. The vocational education sector is capped at 95,000 new international students, as per the new rules.
The shock announcement related to setting a cap comes as students aspiring to go to Australia for higher education were coming to terms with the visa-fee hikes and higher savings requirements, announced earlier this July. The effect is visible as the Australian government report shows a decline in study visas granted to offshore applicants.
From January to April this year, 74,421 study visas were issued. This represents a 30% decrease compared to 104,808 visas granted during the same period in 2023. The vocational education and training sector experienced a 69% decline in visa grants. The language training sector saw a 56% drop.
Together, these two sectors accounted for 61% of the total decline in visa grants for the January-April period this year, as per data collected from the Australian home affairs department.
The International Consultants for Education and Fairs Monitor, popularly known as the ICEF Monitor, a market intelligence platform for the international education sector, said study visa grants issued by the Australian government have declined in the first four months of 2024, months before the Australian government announced visa fee hikes, hike in minimum saving requirements or even the cap on international students.
According to available data, in 2023 Australia was home to nearly 124,000 Indian students. However, this number has fallen to around 118,000 between January and May 2024. The move to cap the enrollment of international students would further reduce the number of Indian students going to Australia for higher education. In addition, the Australian government was expected to soon introduce quotas for public universities which will again have an impact on the number of students going to Australia.
The Group of Eight (Go8), which comprises Australia’s leading research-intensive universities – the University of Melbourne, the Australian National University, the University of Sydney, the University of Queensland, the University of Western Australia, the University of Adelaide, Monash University and UNSW Sydney have termed the cap as “bad policy.” “This policy was bad yesterday and it is bad today – the unexplained number gives us no comfort,” it said in a press release.
(Manas Dasgupta)