Australia¡¯s international education lobby has emphatically rejected a proposed levy on overseas students¡¯ fees, saying such a mechanism would exacerbate perceptions that foreigners are ¡°cash cows for universities¡±.

Phil Honeywood, chief executive of the International Education Association of Australia, said overseas students already subsidised universities¡¯ domestic activities. ¡°Fully 40 per cent of the research¡­of Australia¡¯s 39 universities is entirely funded off the back of international student fee revenue,¡± he told a conference hosted by the University of Melbourne¡¯s Centre for the Study of Higher Education.

¡°We¡¯re just going to turn around and add another levy¡­to pay for more shiny new buildings [and] research off a cohort of students who won¡¯t see the benefit?¡±

Research during the pandemic showed that international students already ¡°felt as though they weren¡¯t getting value for money¡­that their families had paid for them to study here¡±, Mr Honeywood told the symposium.

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The proposed?international student levy?is perhaps the most contentious idea floated in the interim report from the Universities Accord panel. ¡°Such a mechanism could provide insurance against future economic, policy or other shocks, or fund national and sector priorities such as infrastructure and research,¡± the report says.

Levy proponents argue that Australian universities¡¯ considerable financial reliance on overseas students leaves many institutions at a competitive disadvantage, because they lack the geography or rankings heft to attract foreigners in large numbers.

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But Mr Honeywood stressed the disadvantages facing international students. ¡°[They] are on average paying three times more than¡­domestic students. We have a duty of care to ensure that they genuinely get a benefit,¡± he said.

¡°If¡­government is going to go with a new levy, it should be for general student welfare and student serviceability. It should be for enhanced mental health counselling ¨C coming out of Covid, mental health of both domestic and international students is a massive legacy issue ¨C and accommodation and course-related employability.¡±

He said a?survey?during the pandemic had found that overseas students felt ¡°totally isolated¡± in their ¡°14 square metre rooms¡± and that ¡°nobody really understood their needs¡±.

Australian universities deserved credit for engaging architects to encourage interaction between foreign and domestic students, he said. ¡°The challenge is to ensure that they don¡¯t stay in a monocultural bubble. We¡¯ve all tried to grapple with that issue. How do you get them out of their comfort zone? How do you ensure that¡­domestic students understand [their] issues?¡±

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john.ross@timeshighereducation.com