Universities cannot shirk responsibility for international student welfare

On Friday, financial results for NSW’s universities were tabled in parliament.

They painted a damning picture for many of the state’s institutions, but strong investment returns, philanthropy and international student revenue delivered the University of Sydney a $545 million surplus.

International students provide an invaluable source of income to our city’s academic institutions, to the extent that concerns have been raised that they are treated as “cash cows”.Credit: Louise Kennerley

The University of NSW also pocketed a surplus – of just over $200 million – this year, thanks to better-than-expected international and domestic student enrolments.

International education was worth $51 billion to the Australian economy in 2024. At the University of Sydney, international students are 47 per cent of total enrolments. At UNSW, it is 41 per cent.

International students are providing an invaluable source of income to our city’s academic institutions, such that concerns have been raised that they are treated as “cash cows”: an easy solution for an otherwise financially precarious, if not just struggling, system.

An auditor-general’s report published last year found universities earned almost double from a foreign student compared with a domestic one. In 2023, the average revenue from a domestic full-time equivalent student was $22,996 compared with $41,117 for an international student, the report found.

One only needs to think back to the sector’s panic when the federal government contemplated placing a cap on their numbers to understand the integral role international students are playing to balance universities’ budgets.

But what do they receive in return? A qualification from a prestigious university, sure. The same student experience as their domestic peers? Hardly.

As Christopher Harris reports in today’s Sun-Herald, inner Sydney social services are concerned by the growing number of international students who move here with the promise of life in our beautiful city only to find themselves unable to afford housing.

While student visa rules require them to have about $29,000 in their bank accounts on arrival, these services say a mix of widespread mental health issues, the pressures of studying in a foreign language and Sydney’s near-impossible rental market can leave some of these students without safe housing.

Universities Australia chair Professor Carolyn Evans is right to acknowledge that universities should be doing more.

In the absence of available campus accommodation, the private student housing market has exploded, with prices that would make even a seasoned inner Sydney renter blush. A Herald analysis of weekly rents at privately owned student accommodation – such as Scape and Iglu properties – revealed some buildings charged more than $700 a week for a room in a small shared apartment.

But she is also right to raise concerns about local councils blocking some university-led attempts to address the housing shortage that has made such prices possible.

This is because international students do not just provide benefits to universities. As they study, they work in hospitality jobs the sector says it otherwise could not staff. Afterwards, many become permanent skilled migrants, working in health and aged care, and other industries where need is mismatched with local interest.

The students we entice to our beautiful city do much for it. We should try to do more for them.

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