Australia sets cap of 145,000 on new international students for public universities in 2025

After announcing a cap of 270,000 new international students for the year 2025, the Australian government has now set a limit of 145,000 for public universities in 2025.

Study in Australia: Recently, Australia announced a cap of 270,000 for foreign students enrolment in the year 2025. Many Australian universities have commented on this and they opine that it will have damaging impacts on the sector. The latest is, that Australia has now said that there will be a cap of 145,000 on new international students for public universities in 2025.

It is applicable to new international students who will start their studies in 2025. The same is applicable to both vocational courses and higher education.

TOI report said that the following will be exempted from the cap - postgraduate research students, students who are enrolling themselves in school and some English Language students.

As per the report of News 18, the new cap of 145,000 will be based on the international student enrollment percentage on campuses. For non-higher education institutions and private universities, the limit of new students is 30,000. Moreover, as per new rules, the vocational education sector can have a maximum of 95,000 new international students.

Australia reports a 30% decline in study visas

This year from January to April, 74,421 study visas were issued. It is dipped by 30% as compared to visas granted in 2023, which stood at 104,808. Also, the visa grants for the vocational education and training sector witnessed a drop of 69%, and for language training, it decreased by 56%.

University sector terms cap - a bad policy

Group of Eight (Go8) - a group of the country's leading research-intensive universities has termed this new policy as bad. The group includes - the University of Sydney, the Australian National University, the University of Melbourne, UNSW Sydney, Monash University, the University of Adelaide, the University of Western Australia, and the University of Queensland.

"Monash has consistently advocated that a much better policy approach would be to use the legislative mechanism of mission-based compacts to achieve its objectives without endangering Australia’s long-term national interests. Today, Monash received its indicative international commencing student limit. We are currently working to understand the rationale supporting the figure provided and the subsequent full implications of the Government’s announcement. Monash will continue to deliver outstanding educational experiences to all our students, regardless of these proposed restrictions. We will also continue to advocate for policies that recognise the significant contributions international students make to Australia's academic and broader communities," said the official statement of Monash University.

Read more:

• University of Melbourne strongly opposes cap on International students in Australia
• Australia implements cap on international students enrolment for 2025
• Australia International Students Enrollment Cap: A self-harm or wise move?