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International studentsInternational students
About the author
Natasha Kassam
Natasha Kassam was Director of the Lowy Institute's Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program from 2019 to 2022, directing the annual Lowy Institute Poll and researching China’s politics, Taiwan, and Australia-China relations.
The reliance of Australian universities on overseas students has been a subject of increasing debate over the past year. This issue has only become more significant as travel restrictions have dramatically reduced university revenues in 2020. A majority of Australians (52%) say the number of international students enrolled at Australian universities is about right. Four in ten (43%) say the number is too high, while only 3% say international enrolments are too low at Australian universities.
Older Australians appear to be more concerned about international students, however. Half of those aged over 45 (52%) say that the number of international students is too high, compared with 34% of Australians aged between 18 and 44.
