Cade Lucas
Victoria University claims the federal government’s proposed cap on international students would cost it $17 million next year alone.
In August, federal Education Minister Jason Clare announced plans to cap international student commencements for next year at 270,000, with certain groups such as current international students, scholarship holders, higher degree research students and those from the Pacific and Timor Leste, exempted.
The exemptions mean some universities will be able to increase international enrolments while other will experience a drop, with Victoria University claiming it will be among those worse off.
“It is not a pretty picture,” said VU vice-chancellor professor Adam Shoemaker of the effect the proposal would have on the university which would have its international enrolments cut by 11 percent compared to 2023 levels.
Professor Shoemaker said the financial impact would affect VU’s ability to cater for equity students from marginalised or disadvantaged backgrounds.
“Without revenue generated from international students, we wouldn’t have been able to implement our VU Block Model back in 2018 – a teaching method which has dramatically improved retention and pass rates, especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds,” he said.
VU is the only university based in Melbourne’s west and more than a third of its students come from equity backgrounds, such as First Nations students, students with a disability and students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Professor Shoemaker said investing in equity students was part of the federal government’s universities accord and by reducing VU’s ability to do that, the government was going against its own agreement.
A spokesperson for the federal Department of Education said VU wouldn’t be as disadvantaged by the student cap as it claimed.
“Under their proposed international student allocation for 2025, Victoria University will be able to enrol around 35 per cent more new international students next year than they did in 2019,” the spokesperson said, adding the cap was designed to ensure the quality and sustainability of international education into the future and provide certainty for universities.
The cap on international students is included in the government’s Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment Bill 2024, which is still to be passed by parliament.
If passed, the government intends the cap to come into effect on January 1.
