UA chief explains why our international student market ‘still has a good story to tell’ – podcast

In a recent article published in The Conversation, Dr Peter Hurley from the Mitchell Institute argued that Australia’s international student “crisis” in higher education would continue to linger long after our borders open en masse, citing the problem of the “pipeline effect”. He also argued that a more managed policy approach was needed to build and sustain international student growth across the entire sector, rather than just the Group of Eight (Go8) university members.

Universities Australia (UA) chief executive Catriona Jackson spoke to Campus Review about some of the points brought up by Hurley, agreeing that "there certainly will be a pipeline effect, a gap or lag" on international student enrolments at Australian universities due to non-commencements and non-completion of preparatory English programs.

But while Hurley called for a more managed policy approach to share international student revenue across the entire university sector, Jackson recommended that the sector needed to do better job at "making international students aware of options available to them across the entire sector", which cater for their different preferences. 

The UA chief acknowledges that challenges lie ahead, but added that Australia has "a very good story to tell", particularly in light of our high vaccination rates and reputation as a safe country. Jackson also addresses questions relating to Australia's competitiveness in the world and Chinese students being "extraordinarily resolute in sticking with Australian universities". 

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