The budget splashed out extra money for almost every sector deemed important to economic recovery (or politically sensitive). But with universities in a state of financial crisis, they missed out.
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Articles on International students
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Tuesday’s budget shows a reversion back to the previous policy of keeping total higher education funding broadly stable.
Once seen as mainly as a source of international students, China has for a decade been strategically repositioning itself as a provider of international education.
International students have been admirably persistent in studying online for more than a year. But as other countries open their doors, Australia risks losing them if it fails to show they are wanted.
Our current quarantine capacity would take six months to handle the return of 150,000 existing students, but 70,000 new students every six months would also be needed to halt the fall in enrolments.
Universities and the international education sector have developed a number of concrete plans to bring international students to Australia. But they have all been shelved without a clear explanation.
The forced transition to online university learning will mean teaching practices will be permanently changed.
Even before the pandemic added to their financial stresses, a survey of international students suggests more than 20,000 were renting beds that are available to them for only certain hours.
The focus on rankings has been more a symptom than a cause of the challenge Australian universities face, namely a structural change in their revenue base.
Food insecurity affected many students even before the pandemic hit, with international students the worst hit. But students and universities have shown a lot can be done to end the problem.
Chinese international students stuck offshore due to border closures face shame, family tension and pressure to give up their dreams of studying in Australia. Some are even being urged to get married.
If one in five international students don’t re-enrol, the loss of revenue would plunge half of all Australian universities into budget deficit or financial turmoil.
Students from other countries found the US less attractive during the Trump administration. Will things be any different under President Biden?
Universities can expect at least a A$3 billion reduction in international student revenue this year compared to 2019.
The residential hall for international and local university students equipped them for a globalised world, more than anything they could learn in a class.
Student mental health was already an issue before the pandemic. And then students felt the strain on all fronts as studies went online and they lost jobs and social contacts.
Australia has student accommodation with nearly 100,000 beds, many now empty. The large purpose-built student housing facilities are well suited for quarantining returning international students.
The first batch of returning international students are due to fly in this weekend, but Australia has a lot of work to do to maintain its pre-COVID share of the global education market.
The number of students studying in the United States from other countries has continued to fall during the Trump presidency. An expert explains what that means for US students and the US economy.
Educating international students provides far more benefits for Australia than is commonly acknowledged. But it has also created problems and an ambitious agenda is needed to overcome these.
Top contributors
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Director, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University
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Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
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Director, Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of Melbourne
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Associate Vice Provost for International Education, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
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Policy Fellow, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University
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Honorary Principal Fellow, Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of Melbourne
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Honorary Lecturer, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University
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Professor in the School of Media and Communication, RMIT University
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Assistant Professor in the Department of Equity Studies, York University, Canada
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Professor and ARC Future Fellow, School of Education, Deakin University
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Senior Lecturer and Socio-cultural researcher, UniSA Education Futures, University of South Australia
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Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University
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Alan Morris is a Friend of The Conversation.
Professor, Institute for Public Policy and Governance, University of Technology Sydney
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Program Director, Economic Policy, Grattan Institute
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Professor Emeritus and Former Deputy Vice Chancellor, The University of Melbourne
