Melbourne: Australia has announced that it will be limiting its international student intake to 2.7 lakh in 2025 in a bid to tackle record levels of migration that have led to skyrocketing house rental prices. The limit includes higher education courses as well as Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses, Australia's Education Minister Jason Clare said.
Under this cap, publicly funded universities will admit around 1.45 lakh new international students in 2025, maintaining levels seen in 2023. The VET sector will enroll approximately 95,000 new students, with institutions heavily reliant on international students receiving a lower allocation to encourage diversification. Other universities and non-university providers will see their intake capped at 30,000.
In June 2022, Australia capped the foreign student intake at 5.10 lakh. This number was reduced to 3.75 lakh in 2023. In addition to the student intake cap, the Australian government has more than doubled the visa processing fees from AUD 710 to AUD 1600 as of July 1, marking the steepest rise in the past five years.
The move is set to impact Indian students hoping to go to the country for higher education. According to India's Ministry of External Affairs, around 1.22 lakh students from the country study in Australia.
