Australia's Universities at a Crossroads

Studying in Australia used to open doors. Now, rising costs and falling satisfaction make international students think twice.

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In a hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, posters show Vietnamese professionals who studied in Australia.

Many graduates were there, meeting for the first time as part of the Australian Alumni Business Network.

We moved into a conference room with tropical flowers and a sound system, feeling Australian soft power.

Many felt grateful to Canberra for making universities accessible after the Soviet collapse.

A software entrepreneur said they saw opportunities to contribute to both countries.

I've met people who studied in Australia and are proud of their experience.

But I wonder if this experience is still the norm for international students.

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Money is a big issue.

Australian universities have become global case studies in swollen enrollment.

The University of Sydney more than doubled its student numbers, mostly with Chinese students paying hefty fees.

Education is a successful export industry worth around $54 billion.

But is the quality of education the same?

Professors are concerned about the problems in the system.

A veteran professor said the integrity of the system is at risk.

The trade-offs that came with expansion have been difficult to discuss.

As a reporter, I see evidence for concern about the reputation of Australian universities.

Asian universities are improving, and others cost the same or less for international students.

Student satisfaction in Australia has been below the global average for years.

Universities with large international student cohorts have low satisfaction ratings.

The crisis of quality in Australian universities is a big issue.

Young people in Asia describe Australian universities as second-rate and expensive.

Australians need to think about the quality of their universities.

The system has been 'enshittified'.

The government has acknowledged problems, especially at bigger universities.

The assistant minister for international education said Australians should be proud of their institutions.

He also said there are areas for improvement, including governance and diversity.

Federal reforms include requiring universities to be more transparent and creating a new commission.

But it's not clear if these reforms will improve quality and satisfaction.

The problems stretch beyond national borders.

Diplomats and scholars worry about the impact on Australia's foreign policy goals.

Universities are more than just exporters; they are ambassadors.

The importance of student interaction is often lost in disputes over visas and budgets.

There are many alumni of Australian universities in Vietnam.

The further back the degree, the greater the appreciation for Australia.

'Homo academicus' is endangered.

University leaders have been consistent in their response to critiques.

The argument is that the government has added too much red tape and not provided enough funding.

Administrators point to the need for more funding, international students, and modern buildings.

But the request is largely devoid of broader values.

The CEO of Universities Australia said the group participates in other policy forums.

University officials have told me that Canberra insisted universities behave like a business.

John Keane described corporatism as a plague for 'homo academicus'.

He said scholars are under pressure to focus on KPIs and reputation building.

Julian Hill framed the issue as a growth problem.

He said the sector's social license with the Australian public is at risk.

The problems of size and focus are intertwined.

Australia is a bloated anomaly in its education-as-export approach.

The contrasts are stark at the undergraduate level.

Oxford University has about 20% international students.

The University of Sydney has a much higher ratio of international students.

The University of Edinburgh has a lower share of foreign undergraduates.

At McGill, 30% of students are international.

The scene at Australian universities is more crowded and less balanced.

The universities say they are trying to diversify.

Education Ministry officials want to see no more than 50% of international students from one country.

Too high a concentration of students from one nation poses economic and cultural challenges.

Students of all backgrounds are often unhappy with the result.

A graduate student said she wanted more meaningful interaction across nationalities.

Many international students are dismayed by the high fees and poor experience.

Online, students often say that studying in Australia isn't a smart investment.

On campus, the most satisfied students I met were fully funded.

More common were comments about the poor experience and high costs.

Heon Lee said his experience was just okay, and the cost-value proposition felt out of whack.

He said he would pursue his next degree in another country.

At the international school my children attend, I hear similar comments.

The damage to Australian soft power is a concern.

In Vietnam, Indonesia, and other countries, alumni from Australian universities can draw on funds to stay connected.

The event in Saigon was half business conference, half post-pandemic reunion.

Luke Sheehy said outcomes are a good indicator of quality.

But that may say more about the past than current conditions.

At the University of Edinburgh, efforts are underway to shift the perception of international students.

In Australia, 'guest' would be a step up from 'overpaying customer'.

When I visited the international student centre at UNSW, it was in disarray.

The university had around 5,500 foreign students in 1999, but now has over 38,000.

The student-faculty ratio has widened from 16.7:1 to 22.9:1.

UNSW did not respond to emails seeking comment.

Susannah Patton said no one is responsible for the student experience.

She connected the problems with damage to Australian soft power.

The 2024 Universities Accord acknowledged the blind spot in international education.

Hill agreed that the public discussion is often too weighted toward transactional terms.

He stressed that giving international students a good experience is in Australia's long-term interest.

The soft power benefits are incalculable.

What many professors and education experts lament is that the slide in quality could have been avoided.

Forsyth said that when Australia's internationalisation push started, there was more oversight and balance.

Many Vietnamese alumni from that era went to Australia with scholarships.

Patton and others have called for a broader Colombo reboot.

Cultivating and supporting merit would better align education policy with foreign policy.

Critics argue that the current system is too constrained, reduced to intake numbers and visa fraud.

Immigration figures alone are reductive.

Lost in arguments is the quality of one's contribution.

Patton said you have to get down into the data to understand the issues.

What Australia should be doing is rebalancing, prioritising experience above all else.

Universities should compete for high-achievers and build stronger relationships.

The benefits would spread, not just through economies, but also through security, diplomacy, and culture.

As Forsyth put it, 'it's almost hard to overstate the importance of education as a connector'.

The limits of pruning are clear.

In Vietnam, there is still a legacy of goodwill.

But what Australia does next will define whether the experience becomes a historical footnote or a guide to the future.

A Chinese PhD candidate said that if Australia doesn't fix its universities, high-calibre students will stop coming.

No one believes that pruning Australian universities of immigrants will be enough to make the country's gardens thrive.

More money will need to come from somewhere to improve the student experience.

Australia needs more frank discussion about what's gone wrong and which ideas might raise excellence and impact.

The government works behind the scenes to avoid bashing big universities.

Australians deserve a less parochial debate that grapples with bigger questions.

What does Australia want to be for upcoming generations, and the world?

Does the university experience need to dramatically change for a new age?

Universities define nations, global thinking, and leadership in civic commitment.

All of these need backing.

In a world where artificial intelligence and zero-sum thinking are prevalent, we need a collective embrace of collaboration and higher learning.

If not now, when? If not Australians, who?

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Credits.

Words: Damian Cave.

Illustrations: Kylie Silvester.

Editing: Catherine Taylor.

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