Students rank Aussie unis third in world

OVERSEAS students have ranked Australia as the third best country in the world for university education, a new survey has revealed.

OVERSEAS students have ranked Australia as the third best country in the world for university education, a new survey has revealed.

A study of 11,000 prospective students from 143 countries found Australia only lagged behind Britain and the US as a preferred study destination.

Conducted by the International Graduate Insight Group, the researchers also found students thought Australia was safe, had universities with a good reputation and was an easy place to find employment after graduation.

But International Graduate Insight Group Australia spokesman Kevin Brett said the study also showed the areas Australia needed to improve to compete with the world's leading countries.

“The study suggests that Australia is lagging behind its main competitors when it comes to the reputation of Australian university qualifications,” Mr Brett said.

“The UK has benefited from its five-year prime minister's initiative to secure leadership and sustain managed growth of UK international education.

“The next challenge for the sector is to strengthen its reputation worldwide. This invites an Australian prime minister's initiative - one that should be on the agenda of the Australian 2020 Summit.”

Queensland University of Technology deputy vice-chancellor (international) Scott Sheppard said the study was a positive reflection on Australian education.

“The survey was pretty spot on," he said. "In general, the stereotype is the US is the top choice and the UK will always run number two. The fact that Australia is number three is fair and is supported by the data.”

But Mr Sheppard said that if you looked at student interest on an individual country level, you would find Australia was even more popular than its number three ranking.

“In China, Australia is considered number two rather than the UK because of the increased support and protection of students by the ESOS (Education Services for Overseas Students) Act,” he said.