Influx of foreign students continues

Foreign students are flocking to our (mostly) sunny shores in increasing numbers, government data has revealed. In the first quarter of this year, international students increased by 15 per cent, to 480,092. A third were from China; followed by 11 per cent from India; 4 per cent from each of Malaysia, Vietnam and Nepal; and the remainder from a multitude of countries. A 2016 Australian government survey of foreign students found that qualification and institution quality were key drawcards. Jana Diewilde’s motivations complemented the government survey’s findings. A postgraduate journalism student at UTS from Germany, she stated that, “studying abroad is always seen as something outstanding here in Germany. It just shows that you're able to adapt to a different culture and also proves that you're able to study and work in a different language." “Other than that, I guess I was just really curious about Australia and heard a lot about their great universities." Given the sustained growth in the volume of international student, its unsurprising that international students are mostly satisfied with their experiences. Universities Australia chief executive Belinda Robinson was pleased by the figures, but voiced a concern about impending budget cuts to universities: “Any erosion in the quality of our higher education sector would diminish the education of Australian students and jeopardise this enormously important export sector," she commented. Universities Australia submits that funds from international students contribute $22.4 billion in income annually, of which $15 billion flows through to the national economy.