The AFR is reporting today that Australian universities have slid down the latest international reputation rankings, with only three now ranked in the top 100:
Asia’s rapidly improving universities scored 18 slots in the top 100 of the Times Higher Education’s World Reputation Rankings compared with only 10 last year.
Only the University of Melbourne, which was equal 49th, the Australian National University and the University of Sydney, which were both in the 61 to 70 band, made it into the top 100.
Two others, the University of Queensland and Monash University, were in the top 100 in 2015 but didn’t make the cut this year…
The reputation rankings are based on the opinions of more than 10,000 academics worldwide who name the best universities in their field.
Times Higher Education rankings editor Phil Baty said universities in China, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea were all making progress in reputation.
“We now have a Chinese university in the world top 20 for the first time, and another right behind it in the top 30,” he said.
With Australia’s universities ranked relatively poorly, one wonders why so many international students are choosing to study here?
The answer was probably best summed up in the RBA’s submission to the parliamentary inquiry into home ownership, which noted that “recent rule changes have made it easier for students to remain in Australia after graduation, including by becoming permanent residents”, and then forecast a huge increase in net migration from international students, particularly into Melbourne and Sydney:
Dr Jenny Stewart, Honorary Professor of Public Policy at the University of New South Wales, has also drawn the direct link between permanent residency and foreign student demand in her excellent article Hooked on Students:
If you work in a university, you cannot help but be aware of the extent to which universities are dependent upon income from international undergraduate students. Many of us working in the sector realised that it was not for any intellectual brilliance on our part that the students came, but because for many, coming to Australia as a student was a significant step on the path to becoming an Australian resident.
What I had not realised, until I looked at the data, is just how significant this educational program has become in the migration sense. The numbers are substantial. In 2013-2014, of just over 290,000 student visas that were granted, 153,000 were for study in higher education institutions. (Most of the rest were for vocational courses, which in turn offer a pathway towards onshore application for a higher education visa).
What do these undergraduate students do once they have completed their qualification? Many, understandably, wish to remain in Australia…
With appropriate advice and support and the necessary persistence, it would seem to be possible for just about any international student who is a graduate of an Australian university to become, eventually, a permanent resident…
Exactly. I doubt that Australia’s education exports would be anywhere near as high if the carrot of permanent migration was not attached.
If Australia’s higher education system had to compete solely on quality, would they be able to stand on their own two feet? I doubt it. And would education standards, therefore, improve without the focus on selling degrees to foreign students? I think they would.
