Australia plans to cap the number of international students at 270,000 in 2025 as part of a crackdown on immigration.
Under the policy, the government will limit new university admissions to 145,000 international students and new skilled training students to 95,000, Education Minister Jason Clare said on Tuesday. About 600,000 student visas will be issued in 2023, a significant increase from the previous year.
Universities have repeatedly warned that any move to restrict foreign students could hit the lucrative higher education industry.
“This is undoubtedly an important part of our economy. That hasn’t changed,” Mr Clare told reporters in Sydney after the announcement. “But there is pressure on the reputation of the sector as students return.”
Clare said there would be about a 15% increase in the number of students allowed into universities overall, while the number allowed into polytechnics would fall by 20% in 2025. The government wrote to universities on Tuesday informing them of the caps.
“The impression that this is destroying international education is completely and fundamentally wrong,” Clare said. “What’s important is building education sustainably for the future. We want students to come here and learn.”
Australian Universities president David Lloyd said caps on student numbers would put a “brake” on the higher education sector..
Lloyd also said immigration restrictions should not be imposed “at the expense of certain sectors, particularly economically important ones like education”, and that the restrictions would damage Australia’s research and development capabilities.
The Australian Council for Independent Tertiary Education said in a statement that universities needed more information about the changes and that the announcement “creates more questions than it answers”.
Australia is just the latest country to crack down on international students over immigration issues, with Canada, the Netherlands and Britain all implementing or considering measures targeting the university sector. In Australia, the government has been discussing plans to cap the number of international students for months, part of a broader effort to crack down on a post-COVID surge in migration. The immigration surge has coincided with growing voter concern about rising rents due to a housing shortage, a political blow to the center-left Labor government.
Opinion polls show support for immigration in Australia has fallen to its lowest level in five years. Essential Released In a survey conducted on Tuesday, 42% of respondents said the country had been negatively affected.
International students are expected to contribute A$48 billion (US$32.5 billion) to the Australian economy in 2023, making them the country’s largest services export.
The Australian Real Estate Institute’s Student Accommodation Council said the 270,000 student visa cap was “sustainable” and the government’s announcement would give student housing investors confidence to continue putting money into the sector.
