On Monday, the federal government more than doubled the application fee for international student visas. The move is effective immediately and sees the non-refundable fee jump from A$710 to $1,600.
The surprise news comes as part of a broader effort to rein in record-breaking migration levels, especially among international students.
As Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said on Monday, the increased fee will make the migration system “fairer [and] smaller”. Education Minister Jason Clare added the fee increases would also fund “important reforms” such as payments for compulsory work experience and free preparation courses for university.
How do we compare to other countries?
The fee increase means Australia will have student visa application costs way above some of its competitor countries in the international education market.
For example, student visa fees are approximately US$185 (A$277) for the United States and about C$150 (A$164) for Canada. For the United Kingdom, it is £490 (A$932) and for New Zealand it is NZD$375 (A$343).
What do universities say?
The move has been met with dismay from the university sector. The Group of Eight, representing Australia’s top research universities (including The University of Sydney and The University of Melbourne), described it as a “blatant revenue raising move” and a “massive hit” to the A$48 billion sector.
Given the A$1,600 fee is not refundable, it may lower the pool of genuine applicants to study in Australia. This could particularly mean less students from developing countries and less cultural diversity on campuses.
It builds on other recent policy changes, including increased English language and savings requirements to study in Australia. As well as plans to put a cap on the number of international students overall.
This has sparked concerns from groups such as Universities Australia that the sector is poised to suffer big financial losses, given the extent to which it relies on international student fees.
