AUSTRALIA: Fee shift will lead to more foreign students

University students will no longer be able to buy their way into prestige courses under changes introduced by the Labor Government, but universities say the end to full fee-paying places will force them to recruit more international students, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

The federal Department of Education recently wrote to universities to provide details of its election commitment to replace full fee-paying domestic students with government-funded places. But universities warn that the government-funded places will not make up for the lost revenue and they may need to take in more international students - who pay up-front fees for their courses - to compensate.

More than 200,000 foreign students are enrolled in Australian universities and almost all pay full fees for their courses. About 11,000 local students pay full fees and are typically enrolled in subjects such as veterinary science, law, medicine and dentistry.
Full report on the Sydney Morning Herald site