Yahoo Finance International student visa costs skyrocket in Australia overnight: 'Shooting ourselves in the foot'
The government said reform was 'essential' because the system wasn't working the way it needed to.
The cost of an international student visa in Australia has absolutely skyrocketed overnight. Before today, people from overseas who wanted to study in Australia had to pay $710 to get the appropriate visa.
But that will now set back a wannabe student $1,600 from July 1 onwards. The Australian government said the price increase "reflects the increasing value of education" as well as the "commitment to restoring integrity in the international education sector".
The price change now makes Australia the most expensive country in the world for international students to get a visa.
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Before today, Australia sat second on the list of most expensive international student visas and was only behind the UK, where it costs AUD$950 to study.
But now Australia sits well ahead of the UK and other major student markets like New Zealand (AUD$345 for a visa), the US (AUD$285) and Canada (AUD$170).
In addition to the cost of an international student visa going up, the government will also now charge $1,445 for each accompanying applicant aged 18 and over, while each accompanying family member under 18 years of age will be charged $390.
Why are prices for international student visas going up?
The government has been under pressure to curb overseas migration over fears the influx of people moving to Australia is driving up property prices and squeezing an already tight rental market.
The Albanese government announced back in May its plan to force universities to set limits for the maximum number of new international student enrolments.
In March this year, about 741,224 international students were enrolled to study in Australia, compared with 578,930 in 2019. This was an all-time record for Australia and beat the previous figure set in September 2023 with 664,178 enrolments.
Are you affected by this price increase? Email stew.perrie@yahooinc.com
But The Grattan Institute proposed another idea in February that could reduce the number of people coming to Australia to study: jacking up the price of international student visas.
The Institute recommended increasing the visa cost to $2,500 and it appears the government has landed on a number in between that and what students are already paying.
Minister for Home Affairs and Cyber Security Clare O’Neil explained in a statement that the education sector desperately needed a change.
“Reform was essential, after a decade of neglect under the former government," she said.
“This sector has the power to drive growth and opportunity for our country, but to get there, we’ve got to work with quality providers to clean it up.
“The changes coming into force today will help restore integrity to our international education system, and create a migration system which is fairer, smaller and better able to deliver for Australia.”
'Shooting ourselves in the foot'
Migration expert Abul Rizvi has hit out against the "surprise" fee hike and said it won't be a smart long-term policy.
"This is really poor policy as it won’t deter poor performing students but it will deter high performing students who have options," he said. "We are shooting ourselves in the foot."
In an op-ed for Independent Australia, Rizvi made a suggestion for the Australian government.
"It should instead re-think the overseas student program to make it genuinely focused on attracting only the brightest and best students," he wrote. "It should take note of the recent report of the University Accord to encourage overseas students to study in areas of long-term skill shortage."
The government said the increase in the international student visa will help fund measures recommended by the Universities Accord, "including making HECS fairer, paid prac and FEE-Free Uni Ready courses".
Phil Honeywood, International Education Association of Australia CEO, was similarly stumped by the changes.
"I can’t believe that, coming on top of the recent policy impacts on our sector, the Govt have today decided to increase non-refundable student visa fees from AUD $710 to $1600!" he wrote on social media.
"This will make Australia more than double the cost of other countries. This is exploiting young people!"
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