The last few months have seen a vicious backlash to the Albanese government’s proposed caps on international students.
For example, immigration influencer Abul Rizvi described the caps as a “recipe for chaos”, whereas Universities Australia Chief Executive Officer Luke Sheehy labelled the caps “short-sighted and politically expedient”, as well as economically damaging.
Amid the noise and hand-wringing from the usual suspects, it is important to emphasis that some senior university chiefs support the caps.
RMIT vice-chancellor Professor Alec Cameron believes that international student concentrations at Australia’s universities are too high and “damaging to the sector”. He also recommends that international enrolments should be limited to no more than one-third of overall student numbers.
“I wouldn’t [allow universities] to go above one-third,” he said. “Otherwise, the community forms a view about universities”.
Cameron said for a university to be composed of almost 50% international students was “damaging to the sector”.
Professor Cameron’s comments are a veiled swipe at the prestigious Group of Eight Universities.
International students account for 47% of the overall cohort at the University of Sydney, and more than 35% at the University of Melbourne, the Australian National University, the University of Queensland, and the University of Adelaide.
By comparison, international students make up 24% of RMIT’s onshore cohort, with the vast majority (14,661) studying in higher education.
Professor Cameron has also received support from University of Queensland chancellor Peter Varghese, Deakin’s Iain Martin and QUT’s Margaret Sheil, who also support caps on student numbers.
Professor Sheil told The AFR that caps could assist to balance domestic and international student levels in some universities, adding that a maximum of 30% internationals “sounds about right”.
Sydney University Associate Professor Salvatore Babones, author of the 2021 book, “Australia’s Universities, Can They Reform“, explained how the concentration of international students at Australian universities has grown to absurd levels, badly degrading the experience of local students:
“When I arrived in 2008, Australia already had the most internationalized university system in the world. There had been a ten-year run-up in international student numbers to globally unprecedented levels. But things were only about to kick into high gear”.
“Since 2008, the number of international students at Australia’s public universities has doubled. In 2022 (the latest year for which data are available) Australian public universities were 30% international by student load. The numbers were 24% for undergraduate students and 48% for postgraduate students”.
“To put these numbers into perspective the single most internationalized public university in the entire United States (the University of Illinois) is only 23% international”.
“That’s right: the Australian system as a whole is more international than the most international public universities in America”.
Salvatore Babones recommended in his book that international student numbers be capped at 20% per course, 15% per university, and 10% from any one country:
“The Commonwealth should place pedagogically-appropriate limits on the number of international students Australian public universities are allowed to enroll”.
“The exact proportions might be determined by an expert committee, but best practice comparisons suggest something along the lines of a maximum 20% international students in any particular degree course, 15% for each university overall, and 10% from any one country”.
“Private universities might be allowed to offer courses primarily for the purpose of serving international students, but universities that receive public funds should not be competing in this space”.
“To the extent that international students enrich the educational environment for domestic students, they should be welcomed. But it should be a condition of Commonwealth funding that publicly-supported universities operate primarily in the public interest”.
Ultimately, Australia’s universities should exist to serve the needs of Australians, not international students. The learning experience of local students must be paramount.
Otherwise, what is the point of being an Australian?
