International students demand higher entry standards

Leith van Onselen

Wednesday 27 August 2025

Australia already has the highest per capita share of international students in the developed world.

As of Q2 2025, there were 821,251 people in Australia on either a temporary student visa or a graduate visa.

As a result, around 3% of the nation’s population was on either a student or graduate visa in Q2 2025.

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.