23 Australian universities to enrol more foreign students in 2025; 15 universities to slash numbers

The new announcements on the capping of international students in Australia have triggered fear of loss of thousands of jobs in the education sector. Now, new data revealed that some universities will enroll more international students as compared to 2023 and some will have fewer.

Study in Australia: While the university sector is criticizing the government for the random and arbitrary caps on international students, the government has shared new data.

As per the latest updates, 15 universities in Australia including Australian National University will lose a slice of the international students cohort. Australian National University will see a decline of over 14% in its international student enrolment.

The latest data shows that 23 universities will be able to enrol more foreign students as compared to their numbers in 2023. The increase in number is not much but is modest. The most generous cap increase was witnessed in the case of Charles Sturt University. Here, the cap increases to 1,000 students, which is a 517% increase in their capacity for enrolling international students in 2025 as against the 2023 figures. Murdoch University in Perth will see its international students cohort slashed by 34% to 3,500. The figure stood at 5,272 in 2023.

Australia international students cap: More Details

The University of Melbourne and the University of Sydney are more dependent on international students as 40% of students are international. They received a 7% decrease in their 2023 intake. The University of Sydney's cap is 11,900 and of University of Melbourne's is 9,300.

University of Melbourne Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Nicola Phillips said, "By comparison, this year, the University enrolled more than 10,400 new international students and we anticipated this to grow to over 11,000 in next year. As such, the proposed cap represents an 18% reduction in the number of new international student enrolments than we expected in 2025. In financial terms, the indicative cap represents a revenue loss for the University of Melbourne of approximately $85 million in 2025, with flow on impacts into future years."

“We expect to lose about $26.5 million in revenue next year. This is money we use to support the Western Sydney community through ensuring locals have a second chance at education, transnational education, Indigenous equity programs, and initiatives to support low-income students such as our food pantries. We are also concerned that the caps could exacerbate skills shortages in the region and undermine our ability to contribute to Western Sydney’s growth,” said Western Sydney University Vice-Chancellor, Distinguished Professor George Williams AO.

“Most of the 1,350 international students who studied nursing and midwifery with us last year have gone on to work in Western Sydney’s overburdened hospitals. They are helping ease the region’s nursing gap with the local health system forecast to be short of 10,000 nurses next year,” he added.

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