James Cook University welcomes clarity of detail over federal government’s student cuts

James Cook University has welcomed a move by the federal government that has finally put an end to months of uncertainty for the education sector.

Australia will cut its intake of international students by nearly 20,000 following a record high number of enrolments reported this year. Picture: FILE

James Cook University says the government’s long-awaited announcement that it will limit the number of foreign students in Australia finally provides certainty.

The tertiary education institution has been waiting with bated breath for an official cap to be confirmed, which would put stress on JCU’s financial position.

Education Minister Jason Clare said on Tuesday that the government had set international student commencements at 270,000 for the 2025 calendar year as part of its yet-to-be-legislated national planning level.

Under the cap, publicly funded universities will take in about 145,000 new international students next year, which is consistent with 2023 levels, with another 95,000 allotted for vocational education and training (VET) courses.

The government says the reduction of about 20,000 students will lower the figures to pre-pandemic levels.

The James Cook University city campus in City Arcade.

JCU chief marketing officer David Craig, who is also the university’s vice president of international operations, labelled the move a “positive step” in that it finally provided a degree of certainty over foreign student numbers.

“The problem over the past few months has been that we’ve all been sitting in limbo-land, not really sure what it is that we can and can’t do,” he said on Tuesday.

“So even things like trying to figure out what our international strategy is going to be is really difficult to do when you’re living in a climate of uncertainty.”

In 2024, more than 16 per cent of students studying across JCU’s Townsville, Cairns, Mackay and Mount Isa campuses were international students.

JCU also operates campuses in Brisbane and Singapore, which have much higher numbers of international students.

Mr Craig said that despite the announcement, the government had only provided what he called an “indicative cap”, with actual numbers to be finalised in the coming weeks.

He said JCU had just under 2000 international students at its Cairns and Townsville campuses, with courses ranging in price from more than $20,000 to in excess of $50,000 per year.

Mr Craig said the financial contribution of foreign students to JCU was important, but was just one aspect of the benefits to the Australian tertiary education system.

“It’s incredibly valuable to have international students on campus to create that multicultural atmosphere that you’re looking for on campus,” he said.

“It exposes both international and domestic students to international ideas, new ways of thinking and new cultures … we want our students to be global students to be global oriented.”

Mr Craig said the number of international students did not impact the number of places of courses for Australians.

“There are bigger issues, my understanding is that housing is the major driver but whether international students can be labelled as responsible for that, you hear different arguments.”

Originally published as James Cook University welcomes clarity of detail over federal government’s student cuts