International students should not exceed a third of any university cohort and it is “damaging to the sector” for foreign students to make up 50% of students at any given institution, RMIT’s vice-chancellor, Prof Alec Cameron, has said.was “regrettable” but the prospect of more certainty and a clear distribution of places would be an improvement from the current “unmanaged” visa processing system.
International students make up 47% of the total cohort at the University of Sydney, and account for more than 35% at prestigious Group of Eight institutions the University of Melbourne, the Australian National University, the University of Queensland and the University of Adelaide. International students account for 24% of RMIT’s onshore cohort, with the vast majority enrolled in higher education.“Many institutions are in significant financial problems, with under-enrolments,” he said.
Visa approvals for students from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Kenya and Nigeria were all sitting below 70%, with as low as four in 10 receiving approvals.