International student caps are creating a huge headache for universities. But they could have an impact beyond elite campuses
- Written by Peter Hurley, Director, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University
Just before the May budget, the federal government made a surprise announcement: it will introduce caps[1] on the number of international students in the country.
It is fair to say this plan is really worrying[2] some Australian universities.
The sector argues[3] cutting student numbers will see job losses and less money to do research. They also warn cuts will hurt their international reputation and place in global rankings[4].
This is because international education is a vital source of funding for Australia’s universities. Universities collected about A$8.6 billion[5] from international students in 2022 – more than a quarter of all revenue.
Given the sums involved, the introduction of caps has the potential to have the most significant impact on Australia’s tertiary education system in decades. But a major unanswered question is what the caps will be and how they will be calculated.
Remind me, what did the government announce?
Education Minister Jason Clare introduced legislation[6] to parliament on student caps almost immediately after the budget was released. This would provide ministerial powers[7] to regulate international education in Australia by:
pausing the registration of new providers and new courses
limiting the enrolments of overseas students by provider, course or location, over a year
automatically suspending and cancelling courses.
This comes as the government seeks to reduce net overseas migration (the increase in the number of people in Australia) to pre-pandemic levels[8] of about 260,000 people per year.
It also follows similar moves in Canada[9] and the United Kingdom[10], which have introduced changes to limit the number of international students in their countries.
