Western Sydney University (WSU) is slamming the Federal Government’s decision to implement international student caps.
Last week, it was announced by Minister for Education Jason Clare that, subject to the legislation going before Parliament, the government will set a National Planning Level (NPL) for new international student commencement for the 2025 calendar year.
Clare said the cap will be set at just over 250,000.
“Subject to the bill passing – the overall number of international students starting a course next year will be set at 270,000,” Clare said.
“This includes higher education courses and vocational education and training courses.
“And what this means is, next year, that there will be about the same number of international students starting a course here as there were before the pandemic.”
Clare said the reforms are expected to regulate the international education sector.
“Let me reiterate, international education is extremely important, and these reforms are designed to make it better and fairer and set it up on a more sustainable footing going forward,” Clare said.
School students, higher degree by research students, students completing English language courses, non-award students, Australian Government sponsored scholars, Australian transnational education arrangement or twinning arrangement students, key partner foreign government scholarship holders and students from the Pacific and Timor-Leste are excluded from the NPL.
In publicly funded universities, the NPL will result in roughly 145,000 new international student commencements and roughly 95,000 new VET international student commencements in 2025.
Providers who have a higher ratio of international students will receive a lower allocation, which is designed to encourage a diversified student base.
Western Sydney University Vice-Chancellor, Distinguished Professor George Williams, said the proposed caps will have an adverse impact on the western Sydney community.
“We are Australia’s most culturally diverse and internationally facing community and [the] decision is a serious blow,” Williams said.
“We are now expecting almost 1,000 fewer international students next year which translates to a 23 per cent decrease in our forecast for 2025. This policy shift is so much more than dollars or numbers for Western Sydney University, it’s about people, lost opportunities, and what the decision means to our community.
“We expect to lose about $26.5 million in revenue next year. This is money we use to support the western Sydney community through ensuring locals have a second chance at education, transnational educational, Indigenous equity programs and initiatives to support low-income students such as our food pantries.
“We are also concerned that the caps could exacerbate skills shortages in the region and undermine our ability to contribute to western Sydney’s growth.
“Most of the 1,350 international students who studied nursing and midwifery with us last year have gone on to work in western Sydney’s overburdened hospitals. They are helping ease the region’s nursing gap with the local health system forecast to be short of 10,000 nurses next year.
“We will continue talking to the Federal Government about western Sydney’s unique needs and how we can all ensure our vibrant and dynamic region is adequately funded to meets its ambitions.”
Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi said the student cap would be a “disaster” for NSW.
“Labor is just coming in with a sledgehammer to smash universities to bits,” Faruqi said.
“Just listen and admit this was a terrible mistake.”
Emily Chate
Emily Chate joined The Western Weekender in 2024, and covers local news - primarily courts and politics. A graduate of the University of Wollongong, Emily has contributed to The Daily Telegraph and worked as a freelance journalist.