Nearly half a million international students have travelled to Australia this year to take advantage of our world-class education system, new data has revealed.
Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham said international student numbers grew by 14 percent in the first four months of 2017 compared to the same period last year, reaching a record 492,000 students across all education sectors.
“Australia’s success in international education contributed $22.4 billion to the Australian economy in 2016 and supported over 130,000 jobs,” Minister Birmingham said.
The new data comes as the Turnbull Government pledged $3.62 million to progress the implementation of Australia’s first National Strategy for International Education.
“This funding will support 14 innovative projects to help strengthen and grow Australia’s booming international education sector. From support for think tanks, international collaborations and conferences through to backing initiatives that boost student internships and raising the profile of our English language training, these new projects focus on enhancing the experience of international students studying in Australia.
“We’re also expanding the international student survey we undertake every two years to capture information about graduate employment outcomes, as well as increasing the reach of the survey to include students who study Australian courses offshore and online.
“Having ready access to timely student data helps our education providers monitor where demand is growing and track their own success against national benchmarks.
“The projects will help us to maintain a strong evidence base to support the ongoing development of Australian international education.”
Australia’s global reputation in education delivery was reaffirmed recently with the international ranking agency QS’ announcement that seven Australian universities were now ranked in the world’s top 100.
“International students consistently report that the quality of our educational qualifications and the quality of our education system are the main reasons Australia continues to be their first choice study destination,” Minister Birmingham said.
Applications for the next round of projects to be funded under the National Strategy are expected to open in October 2017.
For more information on how to apply and the full list of new projects visit: www.internationaleducation.gov.au