University lowers barriers to student immigration

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Created on Tuesday, 28 February 2012 18:00

Written by Editorial staff

The contributions made to the tertiary education industry in Australia from international students have been well documented - with many institutions finding the prolonged interest in studying abroad to be a great source of funding.

This is because many of the certificates, diplomas and degrees on offer in this country are only available to non-residents under certain conditions.

Most prominently, these courses require the fees to be paid in full by the students attending.

This means that many travellers who journey to Australia for education are effectively expanding the size of the available market.

In the broader sense, this means that colleges and universities are able to market their services to a wider audience than if they were entirely reliant on local applicants.

However, this fluctuating number of students means that there are times when the existing institutions are unable to meet demand - opening up opportunities for smaller, more specialised organisations to bridge the gap in the market.

On the flip side, as the industry changes to reflect the diverse nature of consumers, it becomes more heavily reliant on these extra sectors as a source of funds.

While this may work well in the short term, it has the potential to put tertiary institutions into a difficult situation should the number of international applicants begin to slide.

This could be the drive behind the move from the University of Sydney, which has recently announced that it will be lowering the entrance requirements for some international applicants.

According to the acting dean of the business school, professor Tyrone Carlin, the institution will be accepting enrolments from students who have been awarded high ranking scores in the GaoKao China National Education Entrance Examination.

This means that some applicants can effectively bypass the need to undertake foundation studies to enter undergraduate degrees as long as they meet the English speaking standards set by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

Professor Carlin told reporters on February 23: "Many of the top students - if they weren't exercising their right to go to one of China's top institutions - they were often going to the US or other jurisdictions where there was a direct admissions pathway for exceptional students ... the academic board of the university has taken a view that it would be sensible and appropriate to open a pathway to these students."