Forty per cent of uni graduates in 2020 were foreign students

Major Melbourne universities, including RMIT and Monash, have been accused of favouring foreign students, despite an urgent skills need.

Forty per cent of university graduates were from overseas in 2020.

Australian universities have been accused of giving priority to foreign students as their numbers swell in areas like engineering, IT and nursing, a new report says.

And it has criticised the Albanese government for a “sea change” in overseas student policy that will see more students arriving and given easier access to Australian jobs and permanent residency.

The study by the Australian Population Research Institute’s Dr Bob Birrell and Dr Ernest Healey revealed that in 2020 an astonishing 40 per cent of university completions were by overseas students.

Total revenue from these students was $9.2bn, or 27 per cent of all university revenue across Australia.

More than one-third of RMIT’s revenue came from foreign students.

But it was markedly higher for key Melbourne institutions including Monash University, where revenue share was 36.4 per cent, RMIT where it was 35 per cent and Melbourne University at 31.8 per cent.

“Most of the overseas student graduates are in fields with no relevance to Australia’s urgent skill needs,” the report said.

“Nearly half are in management and commerce despite there being no domestic shortage of such graduates, and by 2020, 63 per cent of all graduates (both domestic and overseas) in this field were overseas students.”

The authors said that in fields of study with chronic skill shortages, such as engineering and IT, universities were giving priority to foreigners over locals.

“Moreover, the overseas students do not have to meet the high academic standards and language skills required of the domestic students vying for these places,” they said.

Universities should graduate more Australian students in IT, a new report says. Picture: AFP

The report said that the federal government’s planned review of higher education indicated no push for universities to prioritise local student training to meet skill shortages.

“Instead, the terms of reference implied that the overseas student industry would be encouraged to fill the gap,” it said.

“There will be a surge in overseas student enrolments, especially from students

attracted by the increased opportunities to stay on in our labour market and obtain permanent residence.”

The authors called on the government to fund more places for Australian students, direct universities to focus research on the nation’s skills needs, and cut the overseas student industry by half.

Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson said the nation’s status as a world-leading provider of international education did not come at the expense of Australian students.

“Domestic enrolments grew by four per cent to almost 1.1m students in 2020, the largest annual increase since 2013,” she said.

“And the recently announced 20,000 additional university places will make it possible for even more local students to go to university.”

“International students are an important part of our student mix, and make a significant social and economic contribution to Australia, strengthening our communities and generating export revenue that pays for university research as well as the essential services all Australians rely on.”

Ms Jackson said students wishing to study in Australia were required to meet the relevant entry standards.