Foreign students forced to spend an average of $42,000 a year to study at Australian universities
Australia, with its high fees and cost of living, is the world's most expensive destination for international students.
A study by HSBC found that foreign students were having to fork out more than $42,300 a year on average to study at Australian universities.
The US is not far behind in total expense, with an average yearly cost of $39,200 (US$35,700) a year, followed by Britain at $33,300 (£19,600). About a third of the world's international students are now studying in these two countries, HSBC's report said.
While Australian fees are roughly on par with US prices, it's the cost of living that makes a big difference, with the yearly average in Australia sitting above $14,400.
Studying in Germany costs just one-sixth of the total in Australia, with an average annual cost of living of just $6,900 (€4,700), the vast majority of which is in living expenses.
The president of the Council of International Students Australia, Thomson Ch'ng, told Guardian Australia the high cost of living was the big factor for foreign students, despite Australia's geographical advantage in attracting students from the Asia-Pacific region. He said governments and education providers needed to take action.
"Analyse the contributor of the high cost of living and burden created to international students such as travel cost, accommodation cost, visa pricing, health insurance, food and meals, then take action to address these, including providing concessions and subsidies to those costs," he said.
Australian universities have seen a decline in the number of overseas students in recent years.
There were nearly 380,000 enrolments by full-fee paying students on study visas in the year to June 2013, a 2.2% decline on the previous year. The Australian education sector saw a 12% drop between 2009 and 2012.
Almost 30% of overseas students in Australia come from China, and 9.2% from India, but there was a 16.7% decrease in Indians from 2012 to 2013 after a string of highly publicised attacks on Indian students.
Yet with around one in five university students coming from overseas, the higher education sector is still strong in that regard, and HSBC Australia predicted that with the Australian dollar falling there could be a reverse swing.
"Changes implemented by the Australian government to streamline international student visa processing, introduced in 2012, should also help increase the influx of international students to Australia," said Graham Heunis, head of retail banking and wealth management for HSBC in Australia.
"While Australian universities may have seen a dip in international enrolments in recent years, the falling Aussie dollar and simplified visa process should spark a resurgence in overseas students placing Australia on top of their destination lists." Reported by guardian.co.uk 22 hours ago.
Australia, with its high fees and cost of living, is the world's most expensive destination for international students.
A study by HSBC found that foreign students were having to fork out more than $42,300 a year on average to study at Australian universities.
The US is not far behind in total expense, with an average yearly cost of $39,200 (US$35,700) a year, followed by Britain at $33,300 (£19,600). About a third of the world's international students are now studying in these two countries, HSBC's report said.
While Australian fees are roughly on par with US prices, it's the cost of living that makes a big difference, with the yearly average in Australia sitting above $14,400.
Studying in Germany costs just one-sixth of the total in Australia, with an average annual cost of living of just $6,900 (€4,700), the vast majority of which is in living expenses.
The president of the Council of International Students Australia, Thomson Ch'ng, told Guardian Australia the high cost of living was the big factor for foreign students, despite Australia's geographical advantage in attracting students from the Asia-Pacific region. He said governments and education providers needed to take action.
"Analyse the contributor of the high cost of living and burden created to international students such as travel cost, accommodation cost, visa pricing, health insurance, food and meals, then take action to address these, including providing concessions and subsidies to those costs," he said.
Australian universities have seen a decline in the number of overseas students in recent years.
There were nearly 380,000 enrolments by full-fee paying students on study visas in the year to June 2013, a 2.2% decline on the previous year. The Australian education sector saw a 12% drop between 2009 and 2012.
Almost 30% of overseas students in Australia come from China, and 9.2% from India, but there was a 16.7% decrease in Indians from 2012 to 2013 after a string of highly publicised attacks on Indian students.
Yet with around one in five university students coming from overseas, the higher education sector is still strong in that regard, and HSBC Australia predicted that with the Australian dollar falling there could be a reverse swing.
"Changes implemented by the Australian government to streamline international student visa processing, introduced in 2012, should also help increase the influx of international students to Australia," said Graham Heunis, head of retail banking and wealth management for HSBC in Australia.
"While Australian universities may have seen a dip in international enrolments in recent years, the falling Aussie dollar and simplified visa process should spark a resurgence in overseas students placing Australia on top of their destination lists." Reported by guardian.co.uk 22 hours ago.