“We’re shooting ourselves in the foot”

The cost of an international student visa in Australia has skyrocketed overnight. Before today, international students who wanted to study in Australia had to pay $710 to get a proper visa.

But it will now cost an aspiring student $1,600 from July 1. The Australian government said the price hike “reflects the growing value of education” as well as its “commitment to restoring integrity to the international education sector.”

The price change makes Australia the most expensive country in the world in terms of visa costs for international students.

RELATED

So far, Australia was second on the list of countries with the most expensive student visas, second only to the UK, where the cost of studying is A$950.

But Australia is now well ahead of the UK and other major student markets such as New Zealand (AUD$345 for a visa), the US (A$285) and Canada (A$170).

In addition to the increase in the cost of student visas for international students, the government will now charge a fee of $1,445 for each accompanying applicant aged 18 and over, while each accompanying family member under the age of 18 will be charged a fee of $390.

Why are student visa prices for international students rising?

The government has come under pressure to curb overseas migration amid concerns that an influx of people moving to Australia will push up property prices and squeeze an already tight rental market.

The Albanian government announced in May its plan to force universities to set limits on the maximum number of new students they can accept abroad.

In February 2024, some 703,245 international students enrolled to study in Australia, up from 578,930 in 2019. This was an all-time record for Australia and beat the previous high set in September 2023, when student enrolments were 664,178.

The story continues

Are you affected by this price increase? Email [email protected]

But in February, the Grattan Institute proposed another idea that could reduce the number of people coming to Australia to study: raising the price of student visas.

The institute recommended increasing the cost of the visa to $2,500, and it appears the government has settled on an amount somewhere between that and what students already pay.

Home Office and Cyber ​​Security Minister Clare O’Neil said in a statement that the education sector was in urgent need of change.

“The reform turned out to be necessary after a decade of neglect under the previous government,” she said.

“This sector has the potential to drive economic growth and opportunity for our country, but to achieve this we need to work with high-quality suppliers to get it sorted.

“The changes coming into effect today will help restore the integrity of our international education system and create a migration system that is fairer, smaller and more responsive to Australia’s needs.”

Migration expert Abul Rizvi opposed the “surprise” fee hike and said it would not be a wise long-term policy.

“It’s a really bad policy because it won’t deter low-performing students, but it will deter high-performing students who have options,” he said. “We’re shooting ourselves in the foot.”

In an article for Independent AustraliaRizvi presented the suggestion to the Australian government.

“Instead, the international student program needs to be rethought to truly focus on attracting only the brightest and best students,” he wrote. “The recent University Covenant report encouraging international students to study in areas where there are long-term skills shortages should be taken into account.”

The government said the increase in international student visas would help fund actions recommended in the University Agreement, “including making HECS fairer, paid internships and free Uni Ready courses”.

Phil Honeywood, chief executive of the International Education Association of Australia, was similarly surprised by the changes.

“I can’t believe that with the recent political impact on our sector, the government has today made the decision to increase the non-refundable student visa fees from A$710 to A$1600!” he wrote on social media.

“This will make Australia cost more than twice as much as other countries. This is exploitation of young people!”

Get the latest news on Yahoo Finance – keep following us Facebook, LinkedIn AND Instagram.