University of Tasmania given green light to enrol hundreds of additional international students
The University of Tasmania will be permitted to welcome hundreds of additional international students next year, restoring its cohort to pre-Covid levels.
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The federal government will enable the University of Tasmania to enrol almost 500 additional international students next year, restoring its cohort to pre-Covid levels.
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare announced on Tuesday that Canberra would be capping the annual intake of international students at 270,000 next year.
It’s been described as part of an effort to reduce migration back to pre-pandemic levels, crack down on “shonky” applications, and ensure that the higher education sector is sustainable into the future.
“We want students to come and study here. We want to make sure that it’s not just for a lucky few universities, but it’s for all universities,” Mr Clare said.
The Albanese government intends to legislate a National Planning Level for new international student commencements, divided between higher education and vocational education and training (VET).
Individual limits are being set for each institution, based on the number of recent international student commencements and the concentration of international enrolments in the student cohort.
For the University of Tasmania (UTAS), it means international student levels will return to pre-Covid levels, with 2200 commencements in 2025 compared to 1746 this year.
Prof Black welcomed the initiative, saying it would enable UTAS to “carefully grow our overseas cohort and support us to deliver our mission for Tasmania”.
“This is a sensible and coherent approach to managing some of the post-pandemic immigration challenges we are facing as a nation while supporting the higher education sector, particularly in regional areas,” he said.
The Vice-Chancellor said UTAS was responsible for 20 per cent of the state’s net migration
“It will take some time for the international student market to readjust and for the benefits of the policy to be felt,” he said.
The new cap will replace a ministerial direction issued by former Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil, which led to a slowdown in visa processing and increased refusals for student visas, which, UTAS argued, effectively capped international student numbers last year, particularly for regional universities.
“We welcome the government’s commitment to replacing [the ministerial direction] from 1 January, 2025 but would prefer to see [it] replaced immediately upon passage of the legislation,” Prof Black said.
Under the changes, publicly funded universities would see about 145,000 new international student commencements in 2025, which is equivalent to 2023 levels.
Other universities and higher education providers will welcome about 30,000 new international students next year, while the VET sector will see about 95,000.
Less than 20 per cent of UTAS’ current student population is comprised of international students.
UTAS reported $77.6m in international student revenue in 203, which was a slight increase on the $75.6m reported in 2022 but far below the pre-Covid peak of $139.6m in 2019.
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Originally published as University of Tasmania given green light to enrol hundreds of additional international students
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