Separate modelling by the University of Melbourne and Monash University said Victoria’s economy could lose nearly $6 billion over three years if student enrolments across the state were cut by 30,000.
Asked whether the new student caps would put a hole in some university budgets, Clare said: “They will make their individual decisions about what it means for their budgets and who they employ and how many students, based on these levels.”
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“This is an important part of our economy, no doubt about it. That hasn’t changed. But as students have come back, it has put pressure on the reputation of the sector, it has bought shonks into the system that we need to crack down [on],” he said.
“To create the impression that this is somehow tearing down international education is absolutely and fundamentally wrong.”
Under the caps, public universities will be allowed to enrol 145,000 new international students next year while vocational colleges will be given a quota of 90,000.
The government in May announced it would cap international student numbers as a key mechanism to halve net migration from 520,000 in 2023 to 260,000 by June next year.
Universities have become the centre of Labor’s plans to slash migration: since late last year, the government has announced several measures to drive down the numbers of foreign students entering the country as its primary lever to dampen temporary migration.
The legislation is a significant escalation of the government’s efforts to reduce foreign enrolments, which rebounded strongly after the COVID-19 pandemic, and gives Clare sweeping powers to cap international student numbers at both an institution and course level.
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