AUSTRALIA

Universities eye Brexit windfall

Australian universities are eyeing a multi-million-dollar windfall as opinion polls show a growing chance a looming British referendum will result in the country leaving the European Union, writes Peter Wilson for The Australian.

The British government and university leaders have conceded a vote on 23 June to leave the EU will mean new visa barriers and higher fees for European students, leading many to shift their sights from Britain to Australia, Canada and the United States.

A British exit from the EU could allow Australia to ‘nudge’ its way back ahead of China and regain its recently lost position as the world’s fifth largest educator of foreign students behind the US, Britain, France and Germany, said Phil Honeywood, executive director of the International Education Association of Australia. He said the timing was excellent given news that Saudi Arabia and Brazil planned to reduce radically the number of students they sent to Australia.
Full report on The Australian site