Indian higher education students in Australia: their patterns and motivations.
Rafi, Bilal ; Lewis, Phil
Abstract
Australia has proven to be a popular destination for Indian
students seeking higher education qualifications. In recent years, the
influx of Indian students into Australia has shown considerable
volatility and so has their enrollment mix between the further,
vocational and higher education sectors. An understanding of the
motivations and characteristics of potential and current Indian
international students along with the changing dynamics of the global
higher education sector is important to be able to analyse this
volatility and to ensure effective and sustainable marketing of higher
education to Indian students. This paper provides a profile of Indian
students studying in Australia and provides insight into their course
preferences and motivations for choosing Australia. A key finding of
this paper is that apart from traditional motivators such as higher
rates of returns and employability associated with a foreign
qualification, Indian students are very responsive to changes in
Australia's labour market, immigration and student visa policies
relative to other international alternatives.
Keywords
India, international education, international students, educational
marketing, higher education, vocational education and training
Introduction
India has enjoyed considerable economic growth since the reforms of
1991. Prosperity in India has brought with it a higher derived demand
for education, especially at the tertiary level. As the incomes of
middle class Indians have steadily increased, it has brought with it a
desire for training that leads to a more sophisticated skill set and
qualifications that are in demand by employers both in India and abroad.
While the Indian education system has tried to maintain pace with this
increased demand, increasingly, Indian students are choosing overseas
destinations to acquire tertiary skills.
As illustrated in Table 1, in 2011 India accounted for 13.1% of all
new international student enrollments in Australia. This was second only
to China and constituted a much higher share than any other individual
country. Recently, the very strong positive trend with respect to new
enrollments has moderated. While enrollment numbers for all major
education importing countries exhibit negative year-on-year growth,
enrollments from India experienced the sharpest year-on-year decline in
2011. Edwards and van de Brugge (2012) also report that visas for higher
education students from India fell from 34,200 in 2007/08 to 9750 in
2011/12.
In this paper, the decision making of potential international
students is analysed in the context of an established theoretical
framework, including the role of push and pull factors. Push factors
relate to the decision to study abroad, whereas pull factors relate to
the choice of an international destination. Push factors relate to
variables present in the home country, whereas pull factors relate to
host country variables. Among the factors that will receive particular
attention in this paper are the absence of suitable educational
opportunities at home, the costs associated with studying, the relative
quotas for university places in the home and host country, the
reputation of host country institutions and the accreditation of
qualifications acquired in the host country in the home labour market.
The paper will also examine the role of visa and immigration policy on
international student demand.
Explaining demand for overseas university places
Lewis established a theoretical framework to examine the growth in
demand for higher education in Australia and elsewhere in the 1980s and
1990s (see, for example, Lewis, 1995; Lewis & Pratt, 1996; Lewis
& Shea, 1995; Lewis & Smart, 2002). Under this framework, there
needs to be a level of economic development and structural change in a
Newly Industrialised Economy (NIE), which creates a demand for
professional, highly educated labour. The availability of well-paid
professional jobs makes investment in higher education profitable. A
growing relatively-rich middle class also demands education
opportunities for their children and has the wealth to finance it. The
demand for overseas education arises because of the lack of supply of
quality places in domestic education institutions and increasing market
demand for highly skilled workers. For an NIE such as India, ensuring
that there is an adequate supply of highly skilled workers is important
to protect and upgrade its comparative advantage and its position in the
global knowledge economy. As stressed by Kelly and Lewis (2010) and
Guruz (2011, p. 198)
Most jobs in the global knowledge economy require educational
qualifications at the tertiary level. Jobs are disappearing, skills
needed to perform existing jobs are changing, and new jobs are
appearing, which require entirely new skills. These have led to an
increasing demand by a tertiary age cohort for higher education
worldwide.
The motivation of Indian students to pursue a foreign degree can be
analysed in the context of the above theoretical framework, which
highlights important 'push' variables. The choice of
destination on the other hand is determined by a number of
'pull' factors. These factors have been documented by Mazzarol
and Soutar (2002) and include:
* the overall level of knowledge and awareness of the host economy
possessed by potential international students;
* the level of personal recommendations or referrals regarding the
host country;
* cost issues related to studying and living in the host country,
along with other social costs;
* the relative host country environment with respect to lifestyle,
physical climate and education system;
* the presence of expatriate social networks from the home country
in the host country;
* the quality and reputation of host country institutions and
* an intention to assimilate into the host country's culture
and to migrate after graduation.
Indian higher education students in Australia
Our analysis of international student data is discussed in the
context of the above framework. The Indian demand for Australian
university places is a function of the level of economic development in
India, the supply and quality constraints faced by the Indian higher
education system and the cost of immigration and student visa regimes
prevalent in Australia. These important factors are discussed in turn.
According to World Bank estimates, in 2010 India had a nominal
gross domestic product of 1727.1 billion US dollars (USD) and GDP per
capita of 3500 USD in purchasing power parity terms. The World Bank
(2012) further forecasted average annual growth of 6.5% in GDP per
capita between 2010 and 2014.
As discussed earlier, the demand for higher education is a derived
demand closely related to economic prosperity and the rise of the middle
class in India. Research by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) charted
the rise of the middle class in India and its implications for
stakeholders such as higher education marketers. The report stated that
in India the global urban class, comprising those households that have
annual incomes between 22,000 and 90,000 USD, will accelerate rapidly
between 2015 and 2025. MGI (2007) forecasted 14% annual growth in the
global urban class in India. This is estimated to result in a market
segment of 15 million households in 2025 that have the capacity to pay
for higher education, with an additional 2 million consumers joining
this market category each year afterwards (MGI 2007, p. 70).
Furthermore, investment in education has always been important to
middle class Indian households who invest heavily in education.
Expenditure on education grew at 11% compound annual growth rate between
1985 and 2005. MGI (2007) predicts that this growth is expected to
continue in the future with an expected increase in private education
expenditure to increase to 127.9 billion USD in 2025. Saxena (2010) also
identified the growth of the middle class and economic development in
India as a virtuous cycle given the link between higher income levels
and increased levels of consumption on goods such as higher education.
In terms of sectoral composition, higher education, vocational
education and training (VET) and English language intensive courses for
overseas students (ELICOS) account for the majority of international
students studying in Australia (see Table 2). ELICOS is often required
prior to enrolling in a higher education or VET course and most
successful ELICOS international students continue into a higher
education or VET course upon completion of ELICOS.
Although this paper is primarily concerned with the higher
education sector, the VET sector is used to illustrate the evolution of
Indian student enrollments. The VET sector has its own unique
characteristics and challenges, but a detailed discussion of these
factors is beyond the scope of this paper.
As shown in Table 3, the distribution of Indian higher education
enrollments across all Australian states and territories has experienced
a downward trend in recent years. Table 3 further illustrates the uneven
distribution of Indian students across Australia.
As shown in Table 3, Indian higher education students are
predominantly clustered in Victoria and New South Wales. In recent
years, Victoria has shown the most drastic drop in higher education
enrollments from Indian students. In general, total enrollments peaked
in 2009 and have been declining since then. However, for New South Wales
the peak occurred even earlier in 2006. The popularity of New South
Wales and Victoria is not surprising as Sydney and Melbourne both
possess large well-established Indian communities, as well as vibrant
services industries that provide opportunities for part-time employment.
With respect to field of study, the data reported in Table 4 also
indicate that higher education enrollments for Indian students are
heavily concentrated at the postgraduate level, with the majority of
postgraduate Indian students enrolled in Masters by coursework degrees.
In 2005, postgraduate courses accounted for 62% of all Indian student
enrollments. The share of postgraduate courses in the composition of
higher education Indian students peaked in 2005 and remained high until
2010. Irrespective of level of study, the popularity of accounting and
information and computer science-related courses with Indian students is
quite remarkable (Table 5). The broad fields of management and commerce
and information technology (IT) account for nearly two thirds of all
higher education enrollments between 2002 and 2011. The reasons for the
strong preference for these fields are discussed in the next section.
Indian higher education: supply constraints, quality concerns and
market dynamics
The Indian higher education sector has not been able to keep up
with accelerating market demand. Sampat, Maru, and Shah (2008) provided
a recent account of the Indian higher education sector stating that, at
the time of writing, India had 18,000 higher education institutions and
10.5 million tertiary students. More recently, Austrade (2012, p. 12)
provided estimates of the size of the higher education sector in India,
stating that from 1947 to 2010, the number of universities in India has
increased from 207 to 475, the number of colleges have increased from
500 to 20,677 and teaching staff increased from 1500 to nearly 500,000.
The student population in higher education has also increased from
100,000 in 1950 to over 11.2 million in 2010.
However, a simple headcount of institutions is liable to lead to a
misleading conclusion in India's case. As Stella (2004) mentions,
India has the second largest tertiary education sector in the world;
however, the efficacy of this sector is constrained by financial,
quality and social issues and at a cost of three billion USD, education
remains one of India's biggest imports (Rajan, 2006). Within India,
the higher education sector is growing, but at a very uneven pace. As
identified by Azam and Blom (2008), government-backed institutions still
account for the bulk of the higher education sector in India. However,
these are growing very slowly and suffer from poor quality. Private
institutions fare much better, but their growth has been constrained by
red tape and the lack of co-ordination in curriculum design and
accreditation.
Azam (2010), Agarwal (2008), Kijima (2006) and Rajah (2006)
document that growth of university graduates started to slow in 1993,
just as the economy took off, so that demand for university graduates
soon exceeded the supply of graduates. Saxena (2010) highlighted the
severe shortcomings of the Indian education sector mentioning that in
2007 only 13.5% of secondary school leavers enrolled in higher education
within 5 years of finishing secondary schooling. High illiteracy and
attrition rates are certainly responsible for the limited supply of
graduates in India; gross enrollment in India in higher education was
estimated at only 6% by Kaul (2006). However, more recent estimates by
Austrade (2012) place this enrollment ratio at 11%.
Research by Austrade (2012) also highlighted weaknesses in the
Indian education system. According to this report, participation rates
in education in India are still very low and despite recent renewed
efforts by the Indian government to improve investment in education, 35%
of the population is still illiterate with only 15% of Indian students
reaching high school. The graduation rate for higher secondary
qualification is even lower at 7%. With respect to the supply
constraints, the Austrade report states that as of 2008, India's
post-secondary high schools offered only enough places for 7% of
India's college-age population, with 25% of teaching positions
nationwide left vacant due to unavailability of suitable staff and
faculty. As an example, the report states that 57% of college professors
lack either a master's degree or PhD (Austrade 2012, p. 7).
The quota system, designed to improve the participation rate in
higher education of backward castes and ethnicities in India, is also
constraining supply of higher education in India by earmarking
university places for these groups. In spite of its worthy intent, it
has ultimately been ineffective due to a fundamental shortcoming. As
identified by Deshpande (2009), Kaul (2006) and Murthy et al. (2007), in
government institutions up to 50% of total places can be reserved for
students from disadvantaged backgrounds. However, this approach is
ineffective as it fails to recognise that these students often have very
low representation at the primary and secondary level, and it is too
late to correct the social, economic and educational neglect faced by
these students by the time they get to the post-secondary level. In the
meantime, the use of such quotas is creating misallocation of already
scarce university places; many of these reserved seats remain vacant or
are sold on the black market, thus reducing the number of competitive
university places.
Viswanadhan, Rao, and Mukhopadhyay (2005) argue that due to a lack
of funds and poor policy decisions by the Indian government, technical
education, such as engineering, has not been able to cope with demand
within the existing public universities. Viswanadhan et al. (2005)
highlighted some of the shortcomings of the higher education sector in
India, stating that
* there was a mismatch between production and demand for skilled
workers such as engineers;
* there were uneven standards at institutions;
* archaic curricula was being taught at institutions;
* the quality of training was poor;
* there were meagre infrastructure facilities;
* there was inadequate faculty;
* there was an absence of R&D activity and
* there was a tenuous link between technical institutions and user
agencies.
The most recent account of the state of and challenges faced by the
Indian higher and tertiary sector is provided in a working paper
released by the Indian Government as part of the 11th 5-year plan
(Government of India, 2011). The report is insightful in appreciating
the severe shortcomings of the sector in India and the associated supply
constraints that partially explain the demand for overseas tertiary
education from India. As highlighted in this report, expenditure per
student with respect to tertiary education has been steadily declining
rather than increasing to meet the demands of a rapidly expanding
economy. This is not entirely surprising given the high illiteracy rates
prevalent in India along with low participation rates at the primary and
secondary education level. In the long run, it is in India's best
interest to increase expenditure on improving basic literacy and
participation rates at the primary and secondary level. However, in the
meantime, the implication for the tertiary sector in India is that its
expansion in the foreseeable future is going to be highly constrained.
Given the low education participation rates coupled with the low
standard of most Indian universities, there is a chronic shortage of
highly skilled workers in the Indian labour market. This shortage has
resulted in the rapid increase in wages of those workers who possess
advanced technical skills in fields such as IT, commerce, engineering,
finance and management. These high wages are sending important signals
to Indian students and employees. A high-quality degree in these fields
is highly coveted in the Indian labour market. Therefore, students who
have the capacity to pay are increasingly turning to foreign
institutions to acquire these skills in an attempt to improve their
employability.
Cost, safety and work opportunities
There are other important variables besides employability that
explain the Indian demand for international education. Table 6 shows the
results of a survey of students from six key countries (Lawson, 2011).
Students were asked to rank the importance of factors when choosing a
destination (1 is most important). Broadly speaking, the most important
factors are various costs associated with an international degree,
opportunities to work, prospects of migration and safety.
Daglish and Chan (2005) determined that the difficulty and
complexity of obtaining a US visa as well as cost are two factors why
Indian students choose Australia. The Australian student visa process is
quite thorough and time consuming; but the 41 recommendations of the
Knight review (201l) to be implemented by the Department of Immigration
and Citizenship (DIAC) are intended to streamline the student visa
process even further (DIAC 2011, 2012a). Once the changes are
incorporated, they are expected to further increase the attraction of
Australia as a tertiary destination.
[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]
With respect to cost, as shown in Figure 1, the rapid increase in
the Australian dollar-Indian Rupee Exchange rate in recent years is one
factor that works against the competitiveness of the international
Australian higher education sector and to some extent explains the
decline in the growth of new enrollments from India illustrated in
Tables 1-4.
Other important factors identified by Daglish and Chan (2005) were
the subject and course offerings and the quality of the host
institution.
With regard to safety, Deumert, Marginson, Nyland, Ramia, and Sawir
(2005) stated that, within the international education sector Australia
was considered a relatively safe study destination as compared to other
education-exporting nations. This is evident from the perception of
Chinese, Taiwanese and Indonesian parents and students who preferred
Australia as a destination for study over other international
destinations. Mazzarol and Soutar (2001) cited by Deumert et al. (2005)
also showed that the presence of a safe environment was the most
significant predictor of intentions to choose an education importing
destination.
Clearly, perceptions of safety on and off campus are an important
factor considered by current and potential international students. This
may be especially relevant with regard to Indian students, given the
recent reported spate of muggings and physical violence directed at
Indian international students in Melbourne. According to Singh and
Cabraal (2010), in 2009 the 120,569 Indian international students in
Australia compromised one third of the total Indian community in
Australia and nearly half (46.9%) of Indian international students in
Australia were enrolled in Victoria, predominantly in Melbourne. The
very visible media profile given by the Indian press to the muggings of
Indian students in Melbourne illustrates the effect that even isolated
events can have on the perception of Australia as a safe destination for
study. While there may not have been agreement between the Australian
and Indian press on whether the attacks were racially motivated or
isolated incidents, there was a reduction in the number of Indian
students and tourists from India in the wake of the attacks, as admitted
by the Australian Tourism Minister (The Hindu, 2010). Owens and Loomes
(2010) therefore recommended that universities implement policies that
enhance the social integration of international students with the wider
student body and community.
The migration factor
Apart from existing factors identified so far, in relatively recent
years there has been a strong relationship between Australian skilled
migration policy and the behaviour of Indian students. As stated
earlier, the preference for commerce and computer science courses,
especially accounting and information technology (IT), by Indian
students was partly due to priority processing and preferential
treatment of immigration applicants graduating from Australian
universities with qualifications in these fields (Knight, 2011).
Immigration policy pre-2008 awarded extra points to accounting and IT
graduates and other professions that were on the Migration Occupation in
Demand List (MODL). This made it relatively easier to cross the
threshold of 120 points required for a permanent residency visa. As
advised by Skills Australia, at that time these skills were deemed
critical to the Australian economy and were in short supply (DIAC,
2010c). As shown in Table 5, the popularity of IT and commerce majors
persisted until 2007 and has since been slowly declining with the
attempted decoupling of higher education and immigration policy by the
Australian Government.
According to Birrell and Healy (2010), the initial surge of
international students was due to immigration changes implemented
between 1999 and 2001 by the Howard government. Revisions to skilled
migration policy were announced in 2008 and have continued to shape
Australia's skilled migrant intake. Recent changes to the
Australian skilled migration policy have been motivated by the
realisation that there is a mismatch between the skills and competencies
of graduating international students and the skills demanded by the
Australian labour market. These changes include a new points test that
emphasises strong English language skills and relevant work experience,
rather than the possession of a particular qualification (DIAC, 2010a).
The new points test along with a more frequently revised and narrower
Skilled Occupation List (SOL) replaces the much wider and generic MODE
These revisions were designed to ensure that no one factor alone would
determine the migration outcome but rather a combination of skills,
qualifications and work experience will be required to clear the new
pass mark (DIAC, 2010b).
In reaction to these revisions, the course preference of Indian
students exhibited a trend towards VET courses in lieu of higher
education courses. Post 2007/08, the popularity of vocational courses
such as hairdressing and cookery spiked dramatically with Indian
students as enrollment in a vocational course rather than a commerce or
IT degree became the most cost-effective and assured pathway to
permanent residency (McCann, 2010). This explains the dramatic surge in
Indians applying for subclass 572 VET study visas in Table 7. The total
number of subclass 572 VET visas granted increased dramatically from
12,612 in 2007/08 to 36774 in 2008/09, while subclass 573 higher
education visas started to decline around the same time. However, due to
quality concerns regarding the provision of VET services in Victoria,
and the realisation that the VET sector was being utilised as a
migration loophole, the link between vocational training and migration
was promptly de-emphasised as well.
From Table 7, it is also evident that in recent years in light of
changes to the student visa and skilled migration program, the largest
impact has been on offshore applicants in India. This suggests that
demand from new international Indian students has moderated given
changes to skilled migration policy; this argument is corroborated by
analysing the stock of Indian students in Australia. As illustrated in
Figure 2, student numbers in Australia have displayed a marked downward
trend following the rounds of policy revisions started in 2008. This may
have been exacerbated by the appreciation of the Australian dollar as
illustrated in Figure 1 and the perceived targeted muggings of Indian
students.
Thus, it appears that recent skilled migration policy changes are
closely related to Indian demand for Australian education as illustrated
by decreasing enrollment numbers, student visas granted and student
stocks. To counteract this decline based on the recommendations of the
Knight review (2011), DIAC has responded by reducing the financial
requirements for student visa candidates. DIAC has proposed changes to
work restrictions to make them more flexible (Bita, 2012) and is
planning on introducing post-study work visas from 2013 onwards that
would let international students work for up to 4 years in Australia
after graduation.
[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]
These steps by DIAC, along with positive publicity to emphasise the
standing of Australia as a safe destination and the opportunities for
part-time work in Australia compared to its competitors in the post-GFC
recession, may result in a rebound in student numbers from India.
Although there have been reports in the media (see, for example, Lane,
2012; Edwards, 2012) that offshore student visa applications and grants
from India have again risen in 2012, the actual DIAC (2012c) data
indicate little change in student visa applications from India between
2010/11 and 2011/2012. It is important to note that these policy
measures were independent and outside the control of Australian
universities and suggest that Australian universities have not done
enough to differentiate their qualifications to Indian students relative
to the alternatives, and have largely remained passive to changing
market conditions.
The capacity of the higher education sector in Australia to satisfy
international demand
On the supply side, there is also a limit as to how many
international students the Australian higher education sector can
absorb, Banks, Olsen, and Pearce (2007) analyse the sustainability and
constraints of higher education exports for the OECD countries and state
that Australia's market share in the international higher education
market is not forecast to grow much further. The strong Australian
currency, increased competition from other education exporting
countries, supply constraints in Australian universities and changes to
immigration policy have all raised doubts about the future growth
prospects of the industry in Australia.
Banks et al. (2007) forecast that Australia's share of the
international education market will grow from 163,345 new international
enrollments to 290,848 new international enrollments in 2025. Between
2010 and 2015, growth in overseas demand for Australian tertiary places
was forecast to decline from a high of 4.25% to 3%. Australian
universities have also communicated their desire to maintain the mix of
international students in the total student bodies to no more than 25%.
However, if the number of domestic university students rises by as much
as recommended in the Bradley Review (2008) and the size of the total
international education market continues to grow proportionately to the
size of the total domestic student body, then this may not be an issue
for Australia.
However, this assumption may prove unrealistic given that Australia
is not a very populous country and the supply of domestic students is
unlikely to grow indefinitely. Therefore, it is possible that if
Australian universities want to remain competitive in the international
higher education sector they may have to increase the proportion of
international students in their total student bodies. Currently,
Australian universities maintain that they do have capacity to increase
international student places. Banks et al. (2007) polled 38 out of the
39 universities in Australia, reporting that Australian universities
will continue to increase international student places well into the
future. Banks et al. (2007) predict that the growth rate of these places
will start to decline from 2010, the growth rate will fall to 3% to
2012, will reduce to 2-3% per year to 2017 and will slow down to 1% to
2025. The overall capacity constraint, while being an operational and
strategic consideration, is not the major problem.
The major problem has been the over concentration of overseas
students, especially Indian students in disciplines such as IT and
commerce. Gallagher (2002) expressed the view that this creates
challenges for Australian universities, given that there are absorptive
and supply constraints with regard to the intake of international
students and their proportion in the total student body and across
faculties and disciplines.
As pointed out by Guruz (2011), the globalisation and
internationalisation of higher education have resulted in far greater
choices and fewer barriers to mobility for international students and
academic staff. Australian universities have to respond to the needs of
the Indian market segment while emphasising and differentiating the
worth of Australian qualifications relative to their competitors in the
USA and the UK. Recent changes to immigration policies, the appreciating
Australian dollar and the spate of violence against Indian students have
shown that market perception and attractiveness of Australian
qualifications can change dramatically.
This obviously creates serious challenges for the Australian higher
education sector. On the one hand Australian universities want to
capitalise on India's growing demand for higher education, but this
requires considerable commitment with respect to investment in physical
infrastructure and human capital, as well as tailoring of courses and
generic skills that appeal to international students such as those from
India. This, however, carries with it a deal of risk in light of rapidly
changing condition in the global higher education market.
It is possible that, in the future, to satisfy the Indian demand
for higher education, Australian universities will change their mode of
entry from exports to transnational education, which implies setting up
of foreign campuses in India. Doing so may ultimately prove to be more
cost-effective for potential Indian students while also being more
responsive to their needs. At the same time, it will allow Australian
universities to avoid the capacity constraints that the Australian
higher education sector will likely face in its current guise.
Considering a change in the mode of entry into the higher education
market can also shield Australian universities from variables such as
exchange rate fluctuations and immigration and visa policy revisions
that are largely outside of their direct control.
Conclusion
India's demand for Australian higher education can be
explained in the light of the supply side constraints in the Indian
higher education sector, and the dynamics of the Indian labour market
and the Indian middle class. Australian education for Indian students is
in the best interest of all stakeholders. Until recently, the trend of
Indian students coming to Australia for higher education was positive
and growing at a robust rate. In recent years, this trend, as measured
by enrollment and student numbers, has moderated drastically. Analysis
of international student data reveals that the behaviour of recent
cohorts of Indian students has been influenced by changes and incentives
provided by the general skilled migration program in Australia. However,
this is not the only factor considered by potential Indian students as
costs related to studying, safety and work opportunities all factor into
their decision making.
The Australian higher education sector has a finite capacity to
satisfy this demand given the supply constraints in the Australian
higher education sector. Furthermore, given cost pressures and the
recent volatility in enrollments from India, more targeted marketing of
Australian higher education programs that emphasises the quality and
employability of Australian training is necessary to deemphasise cost
and migration considerations in choosing an Australian degree.
Declaration of conflicting interests
None declared.
Funding
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in
the public, commercial, or not-forprofit sectors.
DOI: 10.1177/0004944113485837
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Bilal Raft
Graduate Research Officer, Centre for Labour Market Research,
Faculty of Business, Government and Law, University of Canberra,
Australia
Phil Lewis
Professor and Director of the Centre for Labour Market Research,
Faculty of Business, Government and Law, University of Canberra,
Australia
Corresponding author:
Phil Lewis, Centre for Labour Market Research, Faculty of Business,
Government and Law, University of Canberra, ACT, Australia. Email:
phil.lewis@canberra.edu.au
Table 1. Total new international student enrollments in Australia
by nationality, 2011.
Percent Increase
Enrollments of total from 2010
China 159,691 28.6 -5.4
India 72,801 13.1 -26.8
Republic of Korea 29,933 5.4 -11.6
Vietnam 23,738 4.3 -7.4
Malaysia 22,836 4.1 -1.6
Thailand 21,701 3.9 -12.5
Indonesia 17,921 3.2 -2
Nepal 17,780 3.2 -18.9
Brazil 15,285 2.7 -4.8
Saudi Arabia 11,772 2.1 -10.7
Other nationalities 163,967 29.4 -4.2
Total 557,425 100 -9.6
Source: Austrade (2011) International Student Data. Viewed at
http://www.austrade.gov.au/Export/Export-Markets/Industries/
Education/International-Student-Data, accessed on 12 December 2011.
Table 2. International student enrollments in Australia
by sector, 2011.
Percent Growth
Sector Number of total on 2010
Higher education 242,351 43.5 0.1
VET 171,237 30.7 -16.6
ELICOS 95,104 17.1 -16.3
Schools 20,868 3.7 -13.6
Other 27,865 5 -10.3
All sectors 557,425 100 -9.6
VET: vocational education and training; ELICOS: English language
intensive courses for overseas students.
Source: Austrade (2011) International Student Data. Viewed at
http://www.austrade.gov.au/Export/Export-Markets/Industries/
Education/International-Student-Data, accessed on 12 December 2011.
Table 3. New enrollments in higher education in Australia
from India, 2002-2011.
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
ACT 127 229 286 277 221
NSW 2,200 2,565 4,032 6,345 7,233
QLD 828 847 1,077 1,502 1,657
WA 230 250 336 445 487
SA 139 197 534 1,037 1,404
NT 12 9 7 8 27
VIC 2,969 4,164 5,863 7,274 8,143
TAS 16 16 19 45 58
Total 6,521 8,277 12,154 16,933 19,230
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
ACT 237 270 299 341 262
NSW 6,909 6,338 6,162 5,155 3,553
QLD 1,814 2,275 2,879 2,924 1,916
WA 636 865 1,193 1,176 839
SA 1,619 1,515 1,408 1,155 748
NT 53 53 52 54 59
VIC 9,017 9,217 9,112 8,203 5,079
TAS 87 129 122 98 70
Total 20,372 20,662 21,227 19,106 12,526
Source: Australian Education International (2011) AEI
International Student Data. Commonwealth of Australia.
Table 4. Composition of higher education enrollments in
Australia from India.
2002 2003 2004 2005
Bachelor enrollments 2,252 2,337 2,240 2,625
Percent of total 35 28 18 16
Postgraduate 3,469 5,357 9,202 13,715
enrollments
Percent of total 53 65 76 81
Total 6,521 8,277 12,154 16,933
2006 2007 2008 2009
Bachelor enrollments 3,508 4,509 5,020 5654
Percent of total 18 22 24 27
Postgraduate 14,665 14,760 14613 14,489
enrollments
Percent of total 76 72 71 68
Total 19,230 20,372 20662 21,227
2010 2011
Bachelor enrollments 5,553 4,558
Percent of total 29 36
Postgraduate 12,529 7,191
enrollments
Percent of total 66 57
Total 19,106 12,526
Source: Australian Education International (2011) AEI
International Student Data. Commonwealth of Australia.
Table 5. Composition of Indian enrollments in Australia by
field and level of study.
2002 2003 2004 2005
Total--higher education (HE) 6,683 8,405 12,309 17,212
Information technology (IT) 3,637 3,796 4,908 7,060
in HE
Management and commerce 1,613 2,363 3,770 6,001
in HE
Management and commerce 5,250 6,159 8,678 13,061
+ IT in HE
Management commerce and 79 73 71 76
IT as percentage of HE
Management commerce and 62 64 63 67
IT as percentage of ALS
VET 1,633 985 795 1,577
VET as percentage of ALS 19 10 6 8
Total. all levels of 8,463 9,624 13,761 19,356
study (ALS)
2006 2007 2008 2009
Total--higher education (HE) 19,563 20,924 21,387 21,889
Information technology (IT) 6,054 4,721 4,592 5,322
in HE
Management and commerce 9,089 10,774 10,277 9,812
in HE
Management and commerce 15,143 15,495 14,869 15,134
+ IT in HE
Management commerce and 77 74 70 69
IT as percentage of HE
Management commerce and 59 39 25 19
IT as percentage of ALS
VET 4,859 14,303 30,503 51,163
VET as percentage of ALS 19 36 52 63
Total. all levels of 25,698 39,370 58,903 80,625
study (ALS)
2010 2011
Total--higher education (HE) 19,540 12,737
Information technology (IT) 5,144 3,261
in HE
Management and commerce 7,913 4,697
in HE
Management and commerce 13,057 7,958
+ IT in HE
Management commerce and 67 62
IT as percentage of HE
Management commerce and 18 15
IT as percentage of ALS
VET 53,355 38,244
VET as percentage of ALS 72 74
Total. all levels of 74,478 51,659
study (ALS)
VET: vocational education and training. Source: Australian
Education International (2011) AEI International Student Data.
Commonwealth of Australia.
Table 6. Ranked importance of factors when choosing an
international destination.
Education agents
China Indonesia Korea
Cost of living 5 3 3
Cost of travelling 8 9 9
Cost of tuition 2 I 1
Cost of Visa 9 8 8
Funds needed 6 7 7
to show
Opportunities 7 4 4
to work
Quality of education 1 2 2
Prospects for PR 3 6 5
Safety 4 5 6
Education agents
Vietnam Thailand India
Cost of living 3 8 3
Cost of travelling 8 7 9
Cost of tuition 1 1 2
Cost of Visa 9 6 8
Funds needed 4 8 7
to show
Opportunities 5 5 6
to work
Quality of education 2 3 1
Prospects for PR 7 9 4
Safety 6 4 5
Students
China Indonesia Korea
Cost of living 3 2 3
Cost of travelling 8 7 8
Cost of tuition 2 3 2
Cost of Visa 9 8 9
Funds needed 7 9 7
to show
Opportunities 6 4 4
to work
Quality of education 1 1 1
Prospects for PR 5 6 6
Safety 4 3 5
Students
Vietnam Thailand India
Cost of living 3 1 3
Cost of travelling 6 5 9
Cost of tuition 2 2 1
Cost of Visa 8 7 8
Funds needed 5 8 7
to show
Opportunities 7 6 4
to work
Quality of education 1 4 2
Prospects for PR 9 9 6
Safety 4 3 5
Note: The survey consisted of a sample of education agents and
prospective students in each of the six countries. The survey was
administered by Australian Education International (AEI). Source:
Lawson, C. (2011) Studying in Australia: Views from six key
countries. Australian Education International. Commonwealth of
Australia.
Table 7. Selected student visa statistics for Indian student
applicants for Australian visas.
2004-05 2005-06 2006-07
Total number of student 16,274 25,169 39,114
visa applications lodged
Total number of student 13,545 20,265 34,525
visa applications
granted
572 vocational education 819 2,170 6,053
and training visas
granted (Offshore)
572 vocational education 186 399 747
and training visas
granted (Onshore)
572 vocational education 1,005 2,569 6,800
and training visas
granted (Total)
573 higher education 6,376 12,819 22,507
sector visas granted
(Offshore)
573 higher education 2,921 4,211 4,320
sector visas granted
(Onshore)
573 higher education 9,297 17,030 26,827
sector visas granted
(Total)
574 postgraduate 2,938 235 250
research sector visas
granted (Offshore)
574 postgraduate 214 248 217
research sector visas
granted (Onshore)
574 postgraduate 3,152 483 467
research sector visas
granted (Total)
2007-08 2008-09
Total number of student 5.4791 80,259
visa applications lodged
Total number of student 47,711 65,516
visa applications
granted
572 vocational education 9,303 31,489
and training visas
granted (Offshore)
572 vocational education 3,309 5,255
and training visas
granted (Onshore)
572 vocational education 12,612 36,744
and training visas
granted (Total)
573 higher education 29,108 22,364
sector visas granted
(Offshore)
573 higher education 5,092 5,359
sector visas granted
(Onshore)
573 higher education 34,200 27,723
sector visas granted
(Total)
574 postgraduate 203 226
research sector visas
granted (Offshore)
574 postgraduate 215 215
research sector visas
granted (Onshore)
574 postgraduate 418 441
research sector visas
granted (Total)
2009-10 2010-11
Total number of student 38,536 39,645
visa applications lodged
Total number of student 29,826 28,954
visa applications
granted
572 vocational education 7,018 693
and training visas
granted (Offshore)
572 vocational education 10,923 18,853
and training visas
granted (Onshore)
572 vocational education 17,941 19,546
and training visas
granted (Total)
573 higher education 5,053 2,341
sector visas granted
(Offshore)
573 higher education 5,958 6,371
sector visas granted
(Onshore)
573 higher education 11,011 8,712
sector visas granted
(Total)
574 postgraduate 195 237
research sector visas
granted (Offshore)
574 postgraduate 274 231
research sector visas
granted (Onshore)
574 postgraduate 469 468
research sector visas
granted (Total)
Source: Department of Immigration and Citizenship (20126) Student
Visa Program Trends 2004-05 to 2010-11. Department of Immigration
and Citizenship. Commonwealth of Australia.
