Australia to limit foreign student numbers to 270,000

Australia plans to cap foreign student numbers from next year, the government said Tuesday, curbing a multi-billion dollar industry as it faces political heat on immigration.

New international student numbers for university, higher education and vocational training will be limited to 270,000 in 2025, Education Minister Jason Clare told a news conference.

"It will mean that some universities will have more students this year than next year. Others will have less," Clare said as he unveiled the plan, which will require legislation.

Official data show that foreign students were worth more than Aus$42 billion (US$28 billion) to Australian universities and vocational education centres in 2023.

Australian authorities granted more than 577,000 international student visas in the fiscal year to June 30, 2023.

Clare said the change would mean about the same number of international students starting a course next year as there was before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The 2025 breakdown will be 145,000 new foreign students for universities, 30,000 for other higher education providers, and 95,000 for vocational education and training, the government said.

The new limit aims to replace a recent policy of giving priority to students deemed to be at low risk of visa non-compliance -- a system that has favoured top-ranked universities while drastically slowing visas for other institutions.

"We acknowledge the government's right to control migration numbers but this should not be done at the expense of any one sector, particularly one as economically important as education," said Universities Australia chair David Lloyd.