Australia’s foreign-student bubble has burst
“…the government is reluctant to help stricken universities”
Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson answers your questions
From reopening campuses for face-to-face learning to managing the return of international students, amid an expected $3 billion to $4.6 billion decline in revenue, Australia’s universities have some big challenges ahead as they emerge from the COVID-19 lockdown.
Unis say they face big virus revenue hit
New modelling by Universities Australia, released on Wednesday predicts the sector could lose $16 billion in revenue between now and 2023. Some $12.3 billion of this is down to lost international student fees.
National framework for university staff wage negotiations derailed
The university staff union's plan for a national framework for campus-by-campus wage negotiations has been derailed just days before it was due to go to a ballot of all members.
Australian universities to close campuses and shed thousands of jobs as revenue plummets due to Covid-19 crisis
Shortfalls of hundreds of millions of dollars due to lack of international students and no access to jobkeeper are leading to drastic staff cuts
Post-pandemic, government needs to reinvest in nation's research
New estimates suggest the future facing our universities, and the world-beating education and research they do, is bleaker than we first thought. Updated modelling, based on the latest international student enrolment projections, tells us the sector now could lose between $3.1bn and $4.8bn in revenue. The previous estimate ranged between $3bn and $4.6bn. And that is just for this year.
The outlook for the medium term is even more concerning: disruptions this year will have a domino effect for years to come. For the first time, we now estimate revenue losses could total $16bn by 2023. That is based on a drop in international student revenue of 20 per cent this year, 40"per cent next year, 30 per cent the year after that, and 20 per cent in 2023. The problem is that many international students will not be able to enrol and begin studies because of the travel bans.
Overseas students generate record income for NSW unis ... then COVID-19 hit
Overseas students were generating more income for NSW universities than government grants for the first time last year, before the coronavirus pandemic cut international enrollments by more than 13 per cent.
Aussie universities propose 'safe corridors' to allow foreign students to return
The Group of Eight, which represents eight leading Australian universities, has reportedly presented a plan to state and federal governments to introduce "safe corridors" for international students to try to stem these losses. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the plan would allow students to enter from countries where Covid-19 outbreaks are under control. They would reportedly be required to isolate and undergo health checks in their home countries before traveling on flights - arranged with specific airlines - to Australia, where they would be transferred by the universities to quarantine accommodation. They would then self-isolate under supervision. The federal government has signaled it will consider exempting international students from the travel ban from July. This would enable them to start second-semester studies.
Uni bosses blindsided by lack of support for jobs deal struck with union
The four vice-chancellors who negotiated an ill-fated national jobs protection plan with the National Tertiary Education Union believed they had a mandate from other university leaders and expected more to sign up to the framework.
Coronavirus Government Global Briefing: June 3
Winter, sadly, might also mean an increased risk of airborne transmission: a new University of Sydney study ($) found a 1 percent decrease in humidity could lift the number of COVID-19 cases by 6 percent.
China warns students to reconsider travel to Australia for study
Students advised to conduct a ‘risk assessment’ before going to Australia due to ‘multiple incidents of discrimination’ targeting people of Asian descent
Coronavirus: Universities' losses could blow out to $16 billion
Australian universities stand to lose $16 billion in revenue between now and 2023, according to new modelling by Universities Australia…The peak body also has revised its estimates for the rest of the year, suggesting universities could lose $3.1 billion to $4.8 billion dollars in 2020, up from $3 billion to $4.6 billion.
Universities count their losses, government sharpens its claws
Mr Morrison noted that some young people were enrolling in universities when they would be better off in TAFE. "I want those trade and skills jobs to be aspired to, not looked down upon or seen as a second best option," he said. "It is a first-best option."…Not for the first time, the PM was making a calculated pitch to his people, the legion of tradies with whom he shares the Sutherland Shire, at the expense of university-educated elites.
Students fear lost semester of learning as universities plan for campus return
For thousands of university students, a semester of online learning was not what they paid for. Motivation has dropped and many fear they haven't learnt content they need to progress their degrees. Some are disgruntled they must pay full fees for what they see as a lesser service and have been disturbed by online exam technology…This has put pressure on universities to resume face-to-face teaching, with most starting phased returns from next semester. But they must do so amid budget shortfalls and in line with the government’s COVIDSafe roadmap. And once domestic students return face-to-face, it will be harder to assure fee-paying international students still stuck overseas they can receive the same quality of education.
Australian universities take tentative steps towards opening after Covid-19
‘Controlled’ return of international students on the cards for second semester but some institutions stay mostly online
Universities hit back at China's 'unjustified' warning to students that Australia is unsafe
Group of Eight chief executive, Vicki Thomson, labels China’s statements as ‘disappointing’ and ‘demonstrably untrue
Coronavirus: China warns students over 'risks' of studying in Australia
China has warned students to consider the risks of studying in Australia during the pandemic, aggravating a political row between the nations.
Time's up for universities facing China risk
[F]requent complaints involve the pressure on lecturers to reduce quality standards in order to pass international students and now there are increasing concerns about freedom of speech given sensitivities to any criticism of Chinese policy. This is only compounded by the big numbers in tutorials as well as lectures watched online, limiting the prospects for individualised attention. Australian universities are already unusual in their large size, making even more unlikely the suggestion of further mergers to moderate financial pressures. China's spurious bluster about Australian racism may still not deter most potential Chinese students once borders finally reopen, especially given an enviable COVID-19 record. But the widening cracks in the shiny facade of Australia's higher education system won't be quickly mended.
Australia a safe haven for foreign students in a crisis
Australia is in the top tier of nations in curbing the coronavirus. Daily numbers of new infections are routinely zero in several jurisdictions; community transmission is negligible. The overwhelming proportion of new COVID-19 cases are people returning from overseas, and they are required to be in 14-day quarantine. So a huge tick for us, in flattening the curve, putting in place extensive testing, tracing and extra intensive care unit capacity. Universities are working on protocols to make campuses fully operational.
Australian Leader Expects Foreign Students to Return in July
International students are expected to begin returning to Australia next month despite Chinese warnings of pandemic-related racism, the Australian prime minister said on Friday. … They stand to become among the first classes of passenger to exempted from an Australian ban on travel from China that has existed since Feb. 1. The students would return to Australian universities 'in a very controlled setting,' Morrison said.
Push to exploit lead as a safe haven for study (Lexis; login required)
[H]e warned if international students did not resume entering in significant numbers by March next year, then Australia would lose its first-mover advantage. "All of the northern hemisphere institutions will be 100 per cent open for business by then," he said. Mr Jones also said it was important universities reopened for face-to-face teaching soon, even if large lectures still had to be online to maintain social distancing.
Minister for Education Dan Tehan press conference
"[O]ne of the first things that I'm very keen to see, is that campuses fully reopen in a COVID-19 safe way, here in Australia. Obviously, that's incredibly important for our domestic students here, and for the 80 per cent of international students who are here this year. So, we need to see that occur. And, then, obviously, we'll continue to work with the sector dealing with what we think is going to be increased demand coming into the sector, due to youth unemployment."
Unis say state health advice slowing return to normal
The Group of Eight universities, which represents 25 per cent of all higher education students, said there was no uniformity in state government advice. In Victoria, where the government has taken a tough approach to social distancing, classes at Melbourne University were likely to be mainly online with "some face-to-face" teaching in semester two. But in South Australia, the University of Adelaide said it expected to "welcome most students back to campus" on July 27. "It's much easier to shut down a university than reopen it," said Go8 chief executive Vicki Thomson. "It's unreasonable to expect that big institutions with tens of thousands of students and staff can pivot quickly to old routines.
You need to know 'this' about the coronavirus pandemic right now
Australia is on course to have largely eradicated the coronavirus by July, as the country's most populous state announced the removal of restrictions on community sports. New South Wales has gone for two weeks without any cases of community transmission.
Australian universities take tentative steps towards opening after Covid-19
‘Controlled’ return of international students on the cards for second semester but some institutions stay mostly online
Up to 350 international students to return to Australia under pilot scheme
The federal and Australian Capital Territory governments have approved a plan for up to 350 international students to fly to Canberra to resume their studies - the first arrivals since Australia closed its borders to non-citizens and non-residents in March to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The students will take a charter flight in July to resume studies at the Australian National University and the University of Canberra, the first universities to take up national cabinet's plan to allow international students under pre-approved pilot programs.
The ANU has 3,000 international students who were unable to re-enter Australia before the border ban came into force on 20 March, while the number for UC is 400. Under the ACT pilot, up to 350 students who have previously studied in Canberra will fly into the national capital and undergo the required two weeks of compulsory quarantine in hotels, under a cost-sharing arrangement between the universities and the ACT government. The universities will give preference to older students, such as those enrolled in research or postgraduate courses, honours students and those in the final year of their undergraduate degree.
University of Melbourne warns of job losses as staff reject pay cut
Staff at the University of Melbourne have been warned of "inevitable workforce reductions" after they voted against a proposed pay cut brought on by the COVID-19 health and economic crisis.
Australian leader expects foreign students to return in July
International students are expected to begin returning to Australia next month despite Chinese warnings of pandemic-related racism, the Australian prime minister said on Friday.
Australia announces July pilot to welcome back international students
With coronavirus infections dramatically down and plans afoot to significantly open the Australian economy, the Australian government has announced a pilot project to bring back international students to some universities as soon as July…Students from countries where the infection rate is low may be permitted to quarantine for only one week…Meanwhile, China, the largest student sending market, has issued a warning to its students about returning to Australia to study, in part in the context of a larger diplomatic impasse between China and Australia
Australia Says Borders Likely to Stay Closed Until 2021
Australia is unlikely to reopen its border to international travellers until next year but will look to relax entry rules for students and other long-term visitors, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said on Wednesday… The return of international students will be a boost for universities facing big financial losses with the border closed as international education is Australia's fourth-largest foreign exchange earner, worth A$38 billion ($26.14 billion) a year.
Flights cancelled as Beijing's new outbreak raises concerns
… Australia has deepened a diplomatic spat with China by accusing Beijing and Moscow of using the heightened anxiety around the pandemic to undermine Western democracies by spreading disinformation online. "It is troubling that some countries are using the pandemic to undermine liberal democracy to promote their own more authoritarian models," Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a speech to a university. Australia has angered China by calling for an independent inquiry into the origins of and responses to COVID-19.
Australia Blasts China for Creating ‘Disinformation’ in Pandemic
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne criticized China for creating “disinformation” during the coronavirus pandemic, saying it “will cost lives.”
“It is troubling that some countries are using the pandemic to undermine liberal democracy to promote their own more authoritarian models,” Payne said in a speech in Canberra on Tuesday. She cited a European Union report that said foreign actors including Russia and China had spread misinformation, along with Twitter’s ban of accounts linked to alleged disinformation campaigns from China, Russia and Turkey. “The disinformation we have seen contributes to a climate of fear and division when what we need is cooperation and understanding,” she said.
Partnership with government needed to rebuild universities' business model
Universities are also beginning to conduct on-campus courses in 'Covid-safe' ways. This is all understandable as an immediate crisis response, but it's unlikely to rebuild the university sector in any sustainable way. Much of this response sounds like the government's initial thinking[6] for Australia's broader economy as the pandemic took off—remember the idea of temporary support as the 'bridge' back to how we were before? The government has since recognised the bridge is to a different future economy, not the one we had pre-pandemic. Universities must make this same conceptual shift. The magnitude of change that the sector faces requires a much deeper and broader set of changes and responses than we've seen to date.
It's high time universities gave students what they're paying for
With no public debate, universities across Australia have quietly decided students will stay holed up in their bedrooms for the rest of the year. While the rest of the community is fast adapting to life with social distancing - working, dining, exercising, and travelling within COVID-19 guidelines - most universities have decided it's too hard to resume face-to-face teaching for the majority of their students. They've chosen an easier, cheaper road, telling students and lecturers most classes will remain online all year, arguing their first priority is protecting their health.
A Stimulus Backlash Delivers a Global Warning: Value Female Workers
As countries relax coronavirus lockdowns and redouble efforts to bring their economies back to life, Australia's throwback approach to stimulus spending has prompted a furious outcry. The message for nations a step behind Australia on the path to reopening comes from many sectors of society: This is not the 1930s or 1950s; economic priorities must match the times and account for women's essential roles and sacrifices. "One thing the Covid crisis has shown us is how important women's work really is," said Rae Cooper, a professor of gender, work and employment relations at the University of Sydney Business School. "They've kept us alive and kept our society running. Policy needs to catch up with what women are doing."
Australia Allows International Students to Return
SYDNEY - The first planeload of international students to return to Australia since COVID-19 border closures is due to touch down in Canberra next month. The planned return of about 350 foreign students would be the first major reopening of Australia's tightly sealed international borders.
Time to bring back foreign students: EY; Enrolments
Education Minister Dan Tehan said a report from EY showed Australia could get a 2 per cent lift in international arrivals for study as students shift their preference to countries that are managing COVID-19 successfully.
About 20 per cent of international students failed to get to Australia for this semester and universities estimate a hit to revenue of up to $6 billion between now and the end of 2021. But universities and governments need to act quickly to lock in the short-term advantage since other countries are doing everything they can to lift their overseas enrolments.
"At this moment in time Australia is going to be a very appealing place," University of Canberra vice-chancellor Paddy Nixon told AFR Weekend. ANU vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt said "we shouldn't be overly restrictive because we're scared".
Overseas students are a calculated risk
The ANU and the University of Canberra are organising a charter flight to bring up to 350 students to the ACT in July. All of the students involved in what has been described as a "pilot program" had been studying at the universities previously but were prevented from returning to Australia earlier this year as a result of the coronavirus crisis. Participation in the plan, which is targeting older students in research or postgraduate courses as well as students completing honours programs or those who are in their final year of their undergraduate degree, is dependent on students from a range of countries being able to make their way to the "hub city" from which the charter flight will depart.
While ANU vice-chancellor Professor Brian Schmidt is technically correct when he says that bringing in a small tranche of 350 students is not about boosting budget bottom lines, it is imperative for the institutions to normalise services to their paying customers as quickly as possible.
The news of the flight, which could pave the way for thousands more students to return to universities in the ACT and elsewhere, coincided with last week's news that Australia's borders were unlikely to reopen until at least early 2021 - with some significant exceptions.
Shifting Gears: Universities are Making the Move to Online Study
For the upcoming semester, students can begin online and join their fellow students on campus when the travel restrictions are lifted for International Students. In many cases, the universities are offering students the chance to commence on-line study, see if they can manage this mode of study, and based on their initial experience in the first three weeks, decide to continue or withdraw from the course. Students would be able to get a full fee refund if they withdraw within the stipulated time.
Universities tighten the purse strings on startup boosters
Australian universities are running the ruler over their startup programs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Queensland University of Technology's accelerator program one of the first to be shut down. QUT is closing Creative Enterprise Australia, which has operated for a decade alongside its investment activities through the Creative Tech Ventures Fund. The university's Bluebox research commercialisation unit has also been closed. The closures come as Australian universities are under pressure to cut costs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has decimated the income they receive from international students.
University fees hiked to provide 40,000 new places
Australia’s federal government plans to double university fees for arts students and also raise them for those in commerce and law to pay for an expansion of nearly 40,000 places for new students. But students who undertake in-demand courses such as teaching, nursing, mathematics, science and engineering will pay up to 62% less for their degrees. Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan announced the changes in a national press club address on Friday 19 June.
Universities blindsided by Dan Tehan's plan for integrity unit to monitor enrolments
Universities have hit back at Dan Tehan’s proposal for a new integrity unit to police “substantial shifts in enrolment patterns”, questioning whether it is an appropriate role for the regulator. The education minister announced the new role for the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency’s integrity unit on Wednesday evening, in a move that blindsided the university sector.
Universities warn funding overhaul will put quality of education in Australia 'at risk'
The Australian government’s planned overhaul of university funding will cause “another wave of anxiety and pain” within parts of the sector already struggling to manage the financial impact of Covid-19, a leading researcher has warned. More university leaders voiced their concerns about the overhaul on Tuesday, with the head of the University of New South Wales warning that the quality of university education and research in Australia “will be at risk” if funding declined while government support for research was constrained.
How we can create jobs and bring fairness back to Australian higher education
The recently announced changes to the government’s higher education contribution scheme (Hecs) have sparked a debate about the ongoing operation of the university sector, and in particular how it relates to employment. Some have rightly pointed out that increasing the cost of humanities degrees could leave us less equipped to think critically about the world, while others have highlighted the inherent danger that comes with further marketisation of the higher education system.
The Coalition says Australia needs more science and maths graduates. But does the funding add up?
The Australian government has promoted its planned overhaul of university funding as an incentive for students to move away from humanities courses and towards those deemed more likely to result in a job at the end of their studies, including teaching, nursing, maths, science and engineering. The initial focus of last Friday’s announcement was on the large increase in fees for students who wish to enrol in humanities and law degrees, but closer examination of the package shows that it may not encourage universities to create more places for other courses, and that it will reduce federal funding available to each course on average.
The road ahead is hard. Now is not the time to kill off studies in the humanities
If we want to solve our complex problems we must be fully versed in the history and cultures of our combined humanity
'It's awful for our intellectual life': universities, Covid-19 and the loss of expertise
The role of universities as engines of innovation, cultural introspection, and scientific discovery is being imperilled by cuts to staffing and resources
The attack on the humanities will harm future generations
"We need more teachers, nurses, allied health professionals, engineers, people with IT skills – that’s why we want to incentivise students to look to study in those areas, because that’s where the jobs of the future are going to be." So said Education Minister Dan Tehan after announcing a lowering of fees in the above-mentioned degrees, and a doubling in those of the humanities.
'Perverse incentive' for universities to use humanities as cash cows
The federal government's push to train more scientists and engineers will create a "perverse financial incentive" for some universities to instead enrol more high-fee paying humanities students to raise revenue, the UNSW vice-chancellor says.
Lack of higher education vision will 'kill' universities, says vice-chancellor
A leading vice-chancellor is warning the federal government's failure to articulate a vision for higher education will destroy universities, and a lack of new investment in research will tank Australia's long-term economic forecasts.
Cultural cringe + market economics = lower education
The head of the great Viper of neo-conservative economics has been rather hidden in the sudden COVID-19 array of pump-priming policies from the Prime Minister and Treasurer. But one minister has a scheme to save the universities. Many, from the Arts Alliance to professional organisations in the humanities, have appealed for a rethink. For the minister is no knuckle-head, is himself an arts graduate and has two masters degrees in such areas as international affairs and trade.
University fee changes prepare us for post-COVID opportunities
If we are to carve our own future, we will need to pivot to new market opportunities as the reliance on our resources shift in the new energy order. To do this we need to better educate and train the next generation in science and technology to ensure we grasp these opportunities with both hands.
How long will Australians have to wait to travel overseas again?
Most worrying for those separated for friends and family overseas, he appeared to suggest international borders will remain shut until a vaccine is found. Professor Joel Negin, head of the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney, told SBS News that while international travel could start up once a vaccine is developed, there is still a long way to go.
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: World News in Brief: June 26
Australia will stick with plans to further ease coronavirus curbs, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday, despite a spike in infections in the second most populous state of Victoria. On Friday, the state reported its tenth straight day of new cases in double digits.
A summer tradition looks different this year
The largest study on child care and covid-19 is expected to be out in July. Walter Gilliam, director of child development and social policy at Yale University's School of Medicine, said he hopes the data, based on information from 100,000 providers nationwide, will help explain how children spread the virus and what prevention measures might be most effective amid intensifying calls to reopen child-care programs. "We are asking people to go back to work to a job where they sometimes can't socially distance. That's asking a lot without any real sense of risk," Gilliam said.
Australia, Denmark, Norway, Singapore and several other countries where schools and day-care centers reopened as early as April have reported no outbreaks and no resulting surges in cases in the larger population. In contrast, Israel abruptly shut its schools two weeks after reopening when a cluster of 130 cases emerged at a Jerusalem high school.