The drop in the Australian currency means obtaining a world-class education at an Australian university has become a more affordable proposition for millions of potential students world-wide according to Ms Belinda Robinson, Chief Executive of Universities Australia.
“The recently released International Student Survey (by Australian Education International) showed how important affordability was for international students,” Ms Robinson said.
“Despite some very positive findings about the quality of Australian education, it found that 51 per cent of international students in Australia were satisfied with living costs.
“This compared with 87 per cent of students who were satisfied or very satisfied with their overall experience and 88 per cent of students who were satisfied or very satisfied with support services.
“In fact on most indicators, Australia ranks above international benchmarks.”
Ms Robinson said that despite Australia being high up the league table for market share (behind UK and USA) competition for international students is becoming increasingly intense.
“Although Australia has graduated an extraordinary 2.5 million international students, the high Australian dollar has been a contributor to the recent dip in student enrolments.
“Each international student contributes an average of $30,000 to the Australian economy and generates 0.3 full-time equivalent jobs.
“At a time of renewed global economic uncertainty and the decline of the resources boom, the role and importance of international education to Australia’s economic future is impossible to over-state.”
To further assist in lifting our universities’ competitiveness, Universities Australia, supported by i-graduate and Australian Education International, today released Making the Most of Your International Student Barometer Data: A Guide to Good Practice.
“This guide is about providing best practice examples of how our universities are improving student support services and overall student experience – another great example of how our universities are working together to provide a first-class international student experience,” Ms Robinson said.
