Chinese graduates in Australia. (photo by Australian Financial Review)
Major Australian institutions have become increasingly dependent on overseas student income over the past 12 months, according to the Australian Financial Review, and the NSW Audit Office has warned the universities face multiple risks.
There are two larger universities in the country, the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and the University of Sydney (USW), located in NSW. In 2017, the income of NSW universities from overseas students rose 23 percent to A $2.8 billion. Income from domestic students is still low, at A $2 billion.
New State Auditor General Crawford (Margaret Crawford) said universities should assess the risk of market concentration, especially since some universities are more vulnerable to economic and political changes in their countries of origin than others. Both the University of New South Wales and the University of Sydney account for more than 70 percent of the total income of overseas students, according to the University of New South Wales and the University of Sydney.
Norton (Andrew Norton), director of higher education policy at the Grayton Institute (Grattan Institute), said it was a warning for all of Australia`s major research universities, most of which used overseas student income to "subsidize the (Subsidise)" research budget.
It is understood that in the past eight months, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued two "study abroad warning", reminding Chinese students in Australia to guard against attacks.
Mr Norton said foreign students occasionally complained that they were "money cows", but the long-term risk was that China and other Asian countries would improve their higher education systems to cater to domestic demand. (Australia) institutions of higher learning will face financial pressure if they lose their international students.
And the new state audit office`s related report also mentions the university charity donation question. Ramsey`s Western Civilization Center, (Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation), is expected to contribute at least A $5.26 million, or 3.5 percent of new state philanthropic donations, to open new western civilization courses.
