International Students Will Return to Pre-COVID Levels Next Year: Australian Education Minister

Students walk around Sydney University in Sydney, Australia, on April 6, 2016. Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

The Australian government has forecasted that the number of international students starting a university degree in the country will return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2023.

During a speech at the Universities Australia gala dinner on Feb. 23, Education Minister Jason Clare provided an update on international students, saying they were coming back to Australia.

“The number of international students starting a degree over the past year is up 38 percent on what it was the previous year,” he said.

“We now estimate that by the end of this year, it’s likely we will be back to the same number of international students starting a degree as there were before the pandemic.”

The minister said a big part of the change was due to increased efficiency in visa processing after the government put on a lot of extra immigration staff.

“The number of students waiting for a visa has been cut by more than half in the past seven months,” he said.

“The average waiting time for a visa has been slashed from 40 days to 12.”

Australian Education Minister Jason Clare speaks during the Universities Australia Conference dinner at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Feb. 22, 2023. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Clare also noted that students from some countries were returning to Australia faster than others.

While the number of Indian students starting a degree surged by 160 percent in 2022, there was a drop in the number of Chinese students.

However, Clare said this situation would change, citing the online learning ban recently introduced by the Chinese regime.

In late January, the Chinese regime announced that the country’s higher education certification authority would no longer recognise overseas diploma certificates obtained through remote study.

The sudden announcement has forced Chinese students to scramble back to foreign universities around the world, including Australia.

As of Feb. 13, the Home Affairs Department confirmed that it had issued visas to over 40,000 Chinese students to allow them to return to Australian universities to study.

Australia Pushes for More International Students

While the return of international students signals a positive development for Australia’s education sector, the federal Labor government is not satisfied with the current situation.

Clare said more work needed to be done to attract international students to Australia.

“The biggest export we don’t dig out of the ground is coming back,” he said.

“But that’s not enough. We can do more.”

The minister explained that other countries’ education sectors were recovering or growing at the expense of Australia.

“Other countries are eating our lunch at the moment. Some are back to pre-pandemic levels. Others are past it,” he said.

“On the current trajectory, the total number of international students enrolled in our universities won’t get back to pre-pandemic levels until the end of 2025.”

As the government is pushing for more international students, Clare informed those at the event about the visa extension program for overseas students who graduate with skills that the country needs.

The minister also announced that he would visit India in the week commencing Feb. 27 to sign the Mechanism on the Recognition of Australian and Indian Qualifications to further cooperation in education between the two countries.

Visa Extension Program for International Students

On Feb. 21, the federal government announced that it would extend post-study work visas for international students graduating from Australian universities to address skill shortages.

The government said the new rules were a “practical change” that would improve the availability of skilled labour to support local businesses and help rebuild the international education sector following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Students walk around Sydney University in Sydney, Australia, on April 6, 2016. Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

It also noted that the program targeted the skills Australia needed most, including health, teaching, engineering and agricultural fields.

“Enabling students that gain an education in Australia to stay longer and contribute to our economy benefits us all,” Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said in a statement.

“After a lost decade on immigration and skills, we are looking for ways to utilise skilled migrants via enhanced training and better targeted, less exploitative programs for temporary visa workers and students.

Under the changes, international students can stay in Australia for an additional two years to work after graduation.

This means eligible international graduates with a bachelor’s degree can stay in the country for four years (up from two years previously), while those with master’s degrees (research degrees only) and doctoral degrees can stay up to five and six years, respectively.

The new rules will come into effect on July 1, 2023, and the government will review the list of targeted skills annually.

Along with the visa extension, the government also raised the work hours cap for international students, allowing them to work up to 48 hours per fortnight while studying, up from the previous 40 hours.