Good News for some International Students

The Australian National University (ANU), the top ranked global university in Australia and a member of the Group Eight universities in Australia, has been steadily reducing the amount of Chinese international student intake since 2015.

With over 60 percent of its new international students from China in 2016, the university began a diversification strategy to lower what they describe as the dominating group of international students. The diversification strategy aims to increase the number of students from countries such as India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore.

The move came after concern was raised about the university’s heavy financial reliance on the Chinese market. In addition, the concentration of students from one country will result in students socialising within their language only, thus excluding them from the international experience the university offers.

University documents revealed that international students from Singapore and India grew since the implementation of the strategy.

ANU commented that they assume other universities are implementing similar policies and strategies to diversify their international student intake.

This is good news for prospective students from countries such as India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore. However, it does not mean prospective students from China should feel excluded as university data showed international students from China are still the core of international enrollment.

Check out the SMH article here.