International students flock back to Australian universities

The number of international students starting university courses is nearly as high as in 2019, before Covid hit.

The number of international students commencing courses in universities has risen strongly this year.

The number of international students starting university courses has rebounded sharply with new enrolments in the first two months of this year nearly as high as 2019, before Covid hit.

New data from the federal Education Department shows that 55,641 international students commenced courses in January and February, a massive 85 per cent increase on last year, and not far below the 57,927 figure recorded in 2019.

International Education Association of Australia chief executive Phil Honeywood said the figures were “a welcome morale boost for our beleaguered international education sector”.

The data also shows that 20,953 Chinese students commenced university courses in January and February (up 60 per cent on last year), while 8,320 Indian students commenced university courses (up 155 per cent on last year).

Other education sectors did not show the same strength as universities. Commencing student numbers in vocational education have level pegged compared to last year, while school commencements and English language college commencements are down.

Virtually all of the increase in Chinese university student commencements in the past year is attributable to Group of Eight universities, where Chinese students concentrate.

The Go8 said that 16,109 Chinese students commenced courses in its universities in January and February, 80 per cent more than last year.

Overall, 26,681 international students commenced courses in Go8 universities in January and February, double the number seen last year in those months.

Go8 chief executive Vicki Thomson said the figures reflected the fact that “interest in studying with Australia’s research-intensive universities is recovering faster than the rest of the sector”.

One caveat in the data is that, because it is for two months only, it doesn’t show the full picture of university commencements this year. The government has not yet released March data, which covers universities that have a later start to the academic year.

Another caveat is that the current figures are not directly comparable to pre-Covid data because they include international students who are studying from their home countries.

Many Chinese students are still in China because of lack of flight availability and possibly because living costs are lower. “Until we have clarity over how many of Chinese students are still studying online from off shore we are not comparing apples with apples,” Mr Honeywood said.

Ms Thomson said that “while we are encouraged by these numbers and what they say about the enduring attraction of Go8 universities, we are still to see a full recovery of the international education markets following the distortion of Covid”.

In total 422,095 international students were enrolled in Australian educational institutions in the first two months of this year, a number which includes both commencing and continuing students. This is 13 per cent fewer than last year.

The top five countries by enrolment are China (30 per cent), India (16 per cent), Nepal (8 per cent), Vietnam (4 per cent) and Indonesia (3 per cent).