Are the universities luring students to Australia on false hopes? Despite there being little chance of finding a job after graduation, the high cost of the degree and the very real probability that the occupation may be taken off the skills occupation list, Accounting remains popular among international students, reports The Australian Financial Review.

In 2013, overseas accounting ­students made up the second-largest group of enrolled international ­students at both the undergraduate and post-graduate level, behind only business and management en­rollees, reports the AFR.

At the undergraduate level, ­international accounting students made up about 55 per cent of the more than 25,400 enrolled students, a ­percentage that is down from a peak of 64 per cent in 2011.

At postgraduate levels a 40 per cent jump in new overseas accounting students in 2013 was the sole driving force in the critical tertiary accounting education market, as local students continued to shun the field.

International students now ­dominate accounting courses, making up a record 79 per cent of the 17,600 enrolled postgraduate students in 2013, according to data from the federal Department of Education.

“These fee-paying overseas accounting students, lured to Australia by the promise of a ­high-quality education and a potential pathway to migration, bring in ­significant and much needed revenue to cash-strapped universities,” notes the AFR.

Federal Labor member Kelvin Thomson has called for accounting to be taken off the Skilled Occupation List.

“Australia’s large spike in the accounting overseas students program is placing unprecedented pressure on local accounting graduates,” he said. “The claim that Australia is short of accountants is laughable. The level of applicants for each accounting job is the highest of any profession tracked by the Department of Employment.”

The desire to immigrate still drives the international education market, according to veteran education agent John Findley, who is also a registered migration agent. He feels international student numbers were normalising at the post-graduate level after a drop in 2010 and 2011 due to changes in migration policy, the high Australian dollar and persistent rumours that accounting would be removed from the skilled occupation list.

“Despite what the pundits would have you believe, it isn’t possible to say with confidence what drove the decline without asking the specific question of those who did not apply,” Mr Findley said.