Australia to cap foreign student numbers at 270,000

Australia plans to cap foreign student numbers from next year, the government said on Tuesday, curbing a multi-billion dollar industry as it faces political heat on immigration.

New international student numbers for university, higher education and vocational training will be limited to 270,000 in 2025, Education Minister Jason Clare told a news conference.

Official data show that foreign students were worth more than $28 billion to Australian universities and vocational education centres in 2023.

Australian authorities granted more than 577,000 international student visas in the fiscal year to June 30, 2023.

Clare said the change would mean about the same number of international students starting a course next year as there was before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2025 breakdown will be 145,000 new foreign students for universities, 30,000 for other higher education providers, and 95,000 for vocational education and training, the government said.

"We acknowledge the government's right to control migration numbers but this should not be done at the expense of any one sector, particularly one as economically important as education," said Universities Australia chair David Lloyd.

International students were Australia's second largest industry after mining, accounting for more than half of the growth in Australia's economy last year, Lloyd said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said this month the industry was "absolutely vital" for Australia.

But he said universities should not be overly reliant on overseas students, in part because of the implications for migration.

Net migration to Australia surged 26.3 percent in calendar 2023 to 547,300, official figures show, with 751,500 people immigrating while 204,200 left.