Revealed: the elite uni degrees dominated by foreign students

As international student numbers surge, new data shows which degrees locals avoid at top unis, while foreign students dominate IT and business degrees. SEE THE LIST of who studies what

Foreigners make up more than half the students in some elite degrees. Picture: iStock

Foreign students dominate enrolments in engineering, business and information technology degrees at Australia’s top universities, fresh figures reveal.

The federal Education Department’s latest student data shows that 35 per cent of all enrolments last year were overseas students, mostly from Asia and India, paying full fees, with 82 per cent living in Australia.

Two-thirds of the nation’s students in IT degrees, more than half those studying management and commerce, and 41 per cent of engineering students were international students, paying as much as $200,000 for their qualifications.

In contrast, domestic students made up at least 80 per cent of all enrolments in health and arts degrees.

Foreigners account for half the students at the elite University of Sydney, as well as RMIT, which teaches half its international students offshore.

At Monash, 45 per cent of students are foreigners, although one-third are based overseas.

International students make up 46 per cent of enrolments at the University of NSW, 44 per cent at Melbourne University, 45 per cent at Victoria University and 39 per cent at the University of Queensland, based on The Australian’s analysis of the departmental data.

Nearly half the international students attending Australian universities were enrolled in management and commerce, accounting for 56 per cent of all enrolments in business degrees.

At Melbourne University, 62 per cent of engineering students were foreigners, paying $56,000 a year for their four-year degree.

And at Sydney University, international students paying $60,000 a year in tuition fees made up three-quarters of enrolments in business and IT degrees, and just over half the engineering students.

Domestic students made up barely 15 per cent of IT enrolments at the University of Wollongong and at Central Queensland University.

At the financially stricken Australian National University, whose vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell quit in September, foreigners made up two-thirds of all students in management, commerce and IT degrees.

The evidence that foreign students are dominating some fields of study at elite universities follows a Jobs and Skills Australia report raising concerns over the poor language proficiency of many international students.

It warned that some students “may not have the opportunity to practise their English” because “they do not regularly engage with Australians, often living and working with people from their own culture’’.

JSA called for stronger independent assessment of international students’ English proficiency, with testing at the start of study and again at the end of graduation.

National Union of Students national president Ashlyn Horton said many on-campus student organisations were funding English language lessons for international classmates. She said universities had “way too much reliance on international student fees”.

“I know a lot of university student unions are running support services for international students, like learning English,” she said.

Immigration analyst Abul Rizvi, a former deputy secretary of the Immigration Department under the Howard government, called for independent assessment of international students’ academic ability, as well as English proficiency. He said foreign students should face the same Australian Tertiary Admission Rank hurdles as domestic students.

“A strict form of ATAR test should replace the highly subjective ‘genuine student’ requirement (assessed by the Home Affairs Department),” he said.

“The genuine student requirement is constantly criticised by education providers and agents for its subjectivity and often bizarre reasoning used to refuse student visa applications. There should be an independent test of students’ English ability, as well as academic ability to do the course.”

Mr Rizvi said the existing English pass mark for international students was set too low, at the International English Language Testing System “competent level” of 6.5. He said the pass score should be raised to the “good skill level” of 7 for university students.

The Education Department data shows the number of international students in Australian universities has soared 62 per cent in the past decade, compared with a 3.8 per cent rise in domestic students. Australian students are turning away from management and commerce degrees, with enrolments falling 16 per cent across the past decade.

Engineering is the fastest growing degree of choice among domestic students, with new enrolments surging 15 per cent across the decade and 10.3 per cent between 2023 and 2024.

Engineers Australia chief engineer Katherine Richards said she was “delighted” to see the uptick, although even higher enrolments were needed to meet a target of 60,000 additional engineering graduates across the next decade.

“We need to ensure that young people are set up to choose an engineering course at university,” she said.

“That’s partly about encouraging high school students to select advanced maths. Engineering is a profession built on creativity and problem-solving that achieves real-world impact.”