NEWS campusreview. com. au
Riches from afar
Honours for excellence
ATEM / Campus Review awards recognise the best in management.
Foreign students contribute huge portion of universities’ fee income.
International education fees dominate the income universities receive from students, a new background paper from the Grattan Institute’ s Higher Education Program has shown. University Fees: what students pay in deregulated markets revealed $ 4.3 billion of the $ 6 billion universities receive from student fees comes from international students. Postgraduate domestic students paid more than $ 900 million in fees, with domestic undergraduates making up the rest.( International Education Association of Australia chief executive Phil Honeywood points out this amounts to about 18 per cent of total revenue for Australian universities. See“ Straight Talk”, page 10.)
The paper also showed international students made up almost a quarter of enrolments, doubling since 2001. Annual median undergraduate fees for international students range from $ 21,000 to $ 28,000 and figures showed international students prefer more prestigious and expensive universities, even if they charge double what the cheaper institutions do.
“ One reason we think that might be the case is degrees are signals to employers,” said Andrew Norton, director of the Grattan Institute Higher Education Program.“ If you plan to return to your home country, you want something well-known internationally.”
Domestic students are far less willing to pay large premiums for entry into prestige universities, Norton said, something he attributed to local knowledge. He said domestic students understand that international rankings, which many international students rely on in their institution choice, do not always accurately reflect the quality of education received – a reality Australian employers also understand.
In low-cost disciplines such as arts and commerce, universities receive twice as much in student fee income from international students than from domestic students. Comparatively, in high-cost disciplines such as science and engineering, fees are only slightly higher for international students.
“ International students tend to do subjects that are more quantitative, to avoid some of the language issues,” Norton said.“ These degrees tend to be portable around the world, so [ they prefer ] qualifications that are easily recognised in other countries.”
Norton said a coming Grattan report would explore the profits universities make from student fees, and the implications for future government policy. ■
The presentation of the fourth-annual Association for Tertiary Education Management / Campus Review awards gave the spotlight to key performers in tertiary education management.
The event was part of the Tertiary Education Management Conference. Professionals all across the higher education sector earned ATEM awards and Paul Abela, ATEM executive director, called the awards a vital opportunity to recognise the hard work of people in higher education management.
Former prime minister Julia Gillard gave a keynote address. At the end of her speech, Gillard was presented with an ATEM honorary fellowship for her higher education initiatives during her time as education minister and prime minister.
2015 ATEM / CAMPUS REVIEW WINNERS
The LH Martin Institute Award for Excellence in Leadership
Winner: Dr Stephen Weller | Australian Catholic University
The Tribal Award for Excellence in Community Engagement
Winners: Magdalena Wajrak, Jason Barrow and Caroline Bishop Edith Cowan University
The UniPromo Award for Excellence in Marketing, Communication and Public Relations
Winners: Marketing and communication | University of Adelaide
The DVE Business Solutions Award for Excellence in School and Faculty Management
Winners: ASSC College management team
The ResearchMaster Award for Excellence in Research Management
Commended: Mariana Van der Walt | Waikato Institute of Technology
The HES Award for Excellence in Governance and Policy
Winners: Dr Kai Jensen( RMIT) and Mark Hatwell( Monash) The ATEM Policy network
The AHEIA Award for Excellence in Organisational Development
Winners: Organisational development team | La Trobe University
The Co-Op Award for Excellence in Student Administration and Customer Service
Winners: Evange Oliver, Jasmin Zammit | Student Central, Victoria University
The Campus Living Villages Award for Excellence by a New Entrant to Tertiary Education
Winner: Dr Andrew Morgan | Academy of Design, Australia
The Boardpad Award for Excellence in Innovation in Tertiary Education Management
Winner: Michelle Gillespie | Swinburne University
8