{"id":19579,"date":"2024-06-12T08:54:43","date_gmt":"2024-06-11T22:54:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mbanews.com.au\/?p=19579"},"modified":"2024-06-12T08:55:05","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T22:55:05","slug":"international-student-caps-are-creating-a-huge-headache-for-australian-universities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mbanews.com.au\/international-student-caps-are-creating-a-huge-headache-for-australian-universities\/","title":{"rendered":"International Student Caps Are Creating A Huge Headache For Australian Universities"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Peter Hurley<\/a>, Victoria University<\/a><\/em> and Melinda Hildebrandt<\/a>, Victoria University<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Just before the May budget, the federal government made a surprise announcement: it will introduce caps<\/a> on the number of international students in the country.<\/p>\n

It is fair to say this plan is really worrying<\/a> some Australian universities.<\/p>\n

The sector argues<\/a> 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This is because international education is a vital source of funding for Australia\u2019s universities. Universities collected about A$8.6 billion<\/a> from international students in 2022 \u2013 more than a quarter of all revenue.<\/p>\n

Given the sums involved, the introduction of caps has the potential to have the most significant impact on Australia\u2019s tertiary education system in decades. But a major unanswered question is what the caps will be and how they will be calculated.<\/p>\n

Remind me, what did the government announce?<\/h2>\n

Education Minister Jason Clare introduced legislation<\/a> to parliament on student caps almost immediately after the budget was released. This would provide ministerial powers<\/a> to regulate international education in Australia by:<\/p>\n