I’ll let the stats do the talking: in 2017, 624,001 full fee-paying international students enrolled in Australian courses – up 12.7 per cent from the previous year and almost double the number from 2004. Education is Australia’s third largest export, bringing in around $28 billion a year, and the higher education sector attracts the most international enrolments.
International student fees are integral to university budgets, amounting to a quarter of all university revenue in NSW; according to research conducted by StudyMove, the average international undergraduate in Australia paid $29,235 in university fees in 2017.
This is particularly noteworthy in the context of the contemporary political climate, in which reduced government funding of higher education seems to be the order of the day.
In response to revelations of widespread cheating in Australian universities in 2015, the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) identified that the academic and social integrity of universities was being compromised by financial incentives to maximise international student enrolments.
The ICAC report suggests that this has resulted in a gap emerging between the capabilities of many students and academic demands. This finding is consistent with my research of international student experiences at the University of Wollongong, where one participant commented that, “I feel like what they expect you to achieve in exams and assessments is much more than they teach you.”
The proliferation of international students choosing to study in Australia can nonetheless be attributed to the country’s global reputation as a leading provider of tertiary education, coupled with enviable living standards: Australia boasts some of the world’s best beaches, a high minimum wage, and a comprehensive social security system.
However, this lifestyle does not extend to self-funded international students, who are denied access to basic services such as our Medicare system and student concessions (such as for public transport fares).
International students also face unique adversities in the Australian job market: the number of hours they are allowed to work on their study visa is strictly capped at 20 per week, and they often struggle to secure paid work in the first place. Those who do are frequently overworked and underpaid by employers who exploit their unawareness of their right to a minimum wage and fair working conditions.
Many years ago I worked in a restaurant with an Indian medicine student. Her family had amalgamated all of their savings to fly her to Australia in pursuit of an education that would ultimately sustain the family in the future. She paid all of her own living expenses, and had to pay her university fees upfront. If she defaulted on payments, or failed a course, her study visa could be revoked and she’d face deportation back to India.
In this hospitality job she was paid 12 dollars an hour – almost half the award wage – and so she was forced to work two other (also illegally paid) jobs to get by. I’m not sure when she found time to study, but she certainly didn’t have time to socialise or relax. I have never met a human so perpetually tired, stressed, and overworked – but she is a textbook example of the sacrifices some international students will make to obtain a prestigious Australian qualification.
During my investigation of the global ‘study abroad’ phenomenon, the international students I spoke to reflected positively overall on their experiences in Australia. However, they also indicated that they would choose to study somewhere more affordable in the future. Surely this is not the end-goal the Government has in mind for this lucrative industry?!
The global demand for international education opportunities does not exclude Australian domestic students. This can be attributed to a number of factors: globalisation trends are requiring people to become more mobile; international flights are becoming cheaper and more accessible; the Australian government now actively facilitates short-term international education through student loans; and workplaces are increasingly valuing applicants who have experience living overseas.
Overseas travel is a particularly luxurious commodity for Australians; a weekend in Melbourne is about as viable to a Sydneysider as a weekend in Barcelona is to a Parisian. Multiple short-term international holidays are generally less feasible than infrequent, but more substantial trips away.
This undoubtedly makes long-term study abroad opportunities more attractive for Australians, who are increasingly capitalising on opportunities to combine travel with study.
Nonetheless, domestic students are currently less likely to complete entire degrees overseas, opting instead to participate in semester exchanges and short courses that contribute towards their Australian degrees. However, the overwhelmingly positive feedback from students who have studied abroad, coupled with increasing financial and social incentives to jump the ditch for uni suggests that this may well be the way of the future.
Higher education has historically been associated with financial privilege in Australia, but if the country wants to retain its reputation as a leading global education provider, the Government needs to advocate for diversity by adopting a universally accessible scheme.
The exponential globalisation of education will ensure that Australia’s universities will remain attractive to the wealthy and elite. However, if it only manages to retain an upper-class demographic of (both domestic and international) scholars in the future, the quality and reputation of Australia’s education system (and its society as a whole) will surely flounder.
Image: freepik.com
STOP. Hannah Time! 