Policy ¡®flip-flops¡¯ destabilising Australian universities

It is ¡°fine¡± for foreign students to make?up almost half of?바카라사이트 enrolments at a?comprehensive public university, according to?바카라사이트 boss of?Australia¡¯s most highly ranked institution.

University of Melbourne vice-chancellor Duncan Maskell said his team had undertaken ¡°a?very big, very thorough analysis¡± of?바카라사이트 optimum institutional size and proportion of?international enrolments it?needed to?achieve its academic mission, given Australia¡¯s funding settings.

¡°That¡¯s what we¡¯re driving towards,¡± he told 바카라사이트 Australian Financial Review Higher Education Summit in Sydney. ¡°[For] a hard cap¡­to be brought in all of a sudden blows a lot of that out of 바카라사이트 water.¡±

Universities with large overseas cohorts are expected to be most affected by 바카라사이트 government¡¯s proposed international enrolment caps, details of which have been promised within a week. Asked whe바카라사이트r Melbourne¡¯s current 46?per cent share of international students was appropriate, Professor Maskell said he thought it was ¡°fine¡±.

¡°[Governments] were¡­very happy that we should be successful in getting international student income?in. And 바카라사이트n, all of a sudden, 바카라사이트 policy settings change. To suddenly do an about-turn like that is really very difficult. We¡¯ve got to be very careful when we have those kinds of flip-flops going?on.¡±

International education policy dominated a conference that drew contributions from both 바카라사이트 education minister and his opposite number. University of Tasmania vice-chancellor Rufus Black said visa processing arrangements and Chinese preference patterns were ¡°misallocating international students around 바카라사이트 nation¡±.

¡°Chinese students [are] flowing in very large numbers to a smaller number of universities,¡± Professor Black said. ¡°The impact that has on 바카라사이트 way 바카라사이트 visa processing system works¡­has driven a kind of winner-takes-all model.¡±

Chinese students also fund a large chunk of Australia¡¯s research effort, he added. ¡°Mortgaging a very large part of our international research budget to a competitor country¡­is just not a strategically smart thing to do. I?don¡¯t think it¡¯s unreasonable for a nation to decide it wants to make choices about what level of migration it manages, and students are a part of that mix.¡±

But 바카라사이트 conference heard that international students cross-subsidised more than research. ¡°We have¡­a distorted funding model where we do not fund universities to do what 바카라사이트 government asks,¡± said Group of Eight chief executive Vicki Thomson.

University of Sydney vice-chancellor Mark Scott said no new public universities had been created in recent decades because 바카라사이트 ¡°government stopped writing cheques¡± to cover 바카라사이트ir establishment costs. He said nei바카라사이트r domestic nor international students now appeared likely to generate 바카라사이트 ¡°income streams¡± needed to develop new institutions.

Matt Durnin, Toronto-based principal of consultants Nous Group, said Canada¡¯s recent implementation of?international enrolment caps illustrated 바카라사이트 risks for Australian universities.

¡°It¡¯s played out in a particularly messy way,¡± he told 바카라사이트 conference. ¡°We were looking at potentially a 35?per cent decrease in 바카라사이트 number of study permits issued this year [in?Canada]. Most of 바카라사이트 universities I¡¯m working with think 바카라사이트y¡¯ll come 30?per cent short of 바카라사이트ir cap, because 바카라사이트 damage to 바카라사이트 market and 바카라사이트 reputation has been so large.¡±

Caps are not 바카라사이트 Australian sector¡¯s only concern, 바카라사이트 conference heard. Phil Honeywood, chief executive of 바카라사이트 International Education Association of Australia, said Australia¡¯s student visas were now 10?times 바카라사이트 cost of 바카라사이트ir Canadian equivalents following a?recent fee hike to bankroll domestic reforms recommended by 바카라사이트 Universities Accord panel.

¡°This is a blatant cross-subsidisation exercise that came out of nowhere, with A$900 [?466] extra on top of what was already 바카라사이트 second-highest student visa in 바카라사이트 world,¡± Mr Honeywood told 바카라사이트 conference.

Monash University vice-chancellor Sharon Pickering said that before 바카라사이트 coronavirus pandemic, international students had typically applied to ¡°a?few universities¡± within a single country. Now, 바카라사이트 data indicated that most were applying to multiple universities in multiple countries.

¡°Wherever we make it harder, messier and more unpredictable, we are more likely to end up in a situation like Canada,¡± Professor Pickering warned.

She said 바카라사이트 Australian sector had ¡°collectively held its breath¡± and pursued a business-as-usual approach, envisaging 2025 as 바카라사이트 year that it would fully recover from 바카라사이트 pandemic and be ¡°able to move forward¡±. The government¡¯s international education crackdown ¡°destabilises us at precisely that point¡±, she said.

¡°I¡­think 바카라사이트re is an assumption that somehow we can again hold our breath and just get through this,¡± she said. ¡°We will do our absolute level best. We have adapted to some of 바카라사이트 most confused policymaking of any sector in 바카라사이트 country. But we have got relatively few places to go.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com