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CR : In his article Hurley contends that the pipeline effect , which disrupts international student enrolments and completions of pathway courses , into higher qualifications , will result in the university sector not regaining its footing for some time yet , even as the borders reopen . What are your thoughts on this ? CJ : I think Peter ’ s certainly got a point . There have been a range of disruptions because of closed borders . Of course , for students doing English courses , many of them have been unable to do that , and that is a pathway into the Australian university system .
Then there are the factors about students not starting . One of the big problems for us is that commencements are down significantly , by around 40 per cent . So those students who don ’ t start a degree , don ’ t start first year , won ’ t be doing second year , third year or fourth year , in the same order . So there will certainly be a pipeline effect or a gap or a lag , no matter how well we do it , in getting students back in .
There ’ s real light at the end of a tunnel on that now , and we ’ re very much hoping we ’ ll see students back in real numbers for the start of next year . But there ’ s no doubt . Hurley is absolutely right . There will certainly not be a return to the same situation , the pre-COVID situation , immediately by any mark .
He also mentions that international student revenue has traditionally been highly concentrated in certain courses and institutions . For instance , in 2020 group of eight universities received over 50 per cent of the $ 9 billion the university sector collected in international student revenue . Do you believe we need a more managed policy approach for growth , across all universities , to sustain the sector ? I think all 39 of UA ’ s members have deployed quite different and diverse strategies for attracting students . I think the one fundamental thing is that students will make the choice on their own , according to a whole bunch of incentives and reasons and motivations . Our job is for every institution to make the best case they can for those students .
Certainly , ensuring that students understand there are a diverse range of options is a very important thing . But , I don ’ t think it ’ s managed well . I ’ d say that we need to be doing a broader and more comprehensive job than we are currently of making sure international students understand the breadth of options available to them , across the entire sector in Australia .
There is a real diversity in the Australian higher education system and all sorts of institutions serve different kinds of needs , so it ’ s really important . We ’ ve done this for many years , but done it also specifically when , for example , Universities Australia has taken delegations to countries like Japan , India and China , and taken a range of universities and acquainted students and university administrators overseas with the broad range of options there are in Australia . So I think that ’ s an ongoing mission for us .
Due to the pandemic and Australia ’ s closed borders we did see a resurgence in student interest in other international university destinations , particularly the US , UK and Canada . Do you believe Australia can reestablish its position , as a destination of choice , once borders are opened fully again ? It is certainly true that numbers of international enrolments in the UK universities have gone up in the very recent past . There ’ s not a direct causation between what ’ s happening in the UK and any decline in Australia . It ’ s important not to speculate here . We know , of course , that the US , UK and Canada are very vigorous and attractive competitors . And we have a job to do , to make sure that students don ’ t transfer their affections .
But I would argue very strongly that all the things that make Australia an incredibly attractive study destination , are either exactly the same as they were before COVID , or in fact amplified . If you look at the most recent student experience survey taken last year , right in the middle of the pandemic , students had the same level of faith in teaching excellence as they had previously . That ’ s a remarkable result , given how much tumultuous change there has been for every domestic and international student .
They also rated the things they love about Australia . They love the quality of the university system , but they also love the fact that we are a safe and secure location . Their ratings for that , above 90 per cent , were the same as they were pre-pandemic . And I would argue , and I think others would too , now that we are so highly vaccinated , those
There is a good story for us to tell , and we have a job to make sure we ’ re telling that loudly and clearly .
attractors are even stronger than they were previously .
I think we ’ ve got a very good story to tell . That doesn ’ t mean we haven ’ t got a lot of work to do to address some of the concerns , because we ’ ve effectively been closed for a period of time . But we are still a great place to come and study . All the things that students loved about us before the pandemic are the same , or frankly , better . We are safer and more secure with really high vaccination rates now . So I ’ d argue that there is a good story for us to tell , and we have a job to make sure we ’ re telling that loudly and clearly , not just universities , but also governments across all jurisdictions .
Can the Australian public university sector expect lower enrollments from Chinese students , given the significant geopolitical tensions we ’ ve had in our area of late , and the disappointment Beijing has levelled at the current Australian Government ? I ’ m going to leave comments around government and government matters to people above my pay grade , to government . But let ’ s look at the facts . Chinese students have been extraordinarily resolute in sticking with Australian universities , with many of them enrolling online and studying from China until they could get back into the country . Their loyalty and their resilience has been really quite remarkable to see . We know a large number of them are just waiting to be able to get back in , and they ’ ll be back here as soon as they possibly can .
I think those students who are just desperate to get back on campus with their colleagues are telling a story , they ’ re keen . There will be many who deferred last year , tens of thousands of students who deferred either last year or this year , who ’ ll be reconsidering their options . And I think Australia is still an extremely attractive destination . In fact , in some ways , if you look around the world , perhaps even more attractive than we were pre-COVID . ■
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