In a move opposed by the international education sector, the Australian government has announced a cap on new international student commencements, set at 270,000 for 2025. The cap, known as the National Planning Level (NPL), aims to restore the industry’s social license and ensure better management of growth.
Despite vigorous opposition by Australia’s international education stakeholders to the prospect of a cap on foreign student numbers, the Australian government today announced that: “Subject to the passage of legislation before the Parliament, the government will set a National Planning Level (NPL) for new international student commencements of 270,000 for calendar year 2025.”
The NPL – i.e., a cap on new international students coming to Australia – will be allocated across the higher education and vocational education sectors and its aim is to constrain international commencements to pre-pandemic levels. The government says the cap will help to restore the social licence of the industry and ensure that growth is better managed.
The NPL will be allocated across higher education and vocational education sectors, with public universities receiving just over half of the cap (145,000). Individual university caps will be outlined in International Student Profiles, considering factors like recent international student commencements and concentration of international enrollments.
Exemptions apply to schools, higher degree research programs, standalone English-language providers, non-award programs and certain government-sponsored scholars. The cap replaces Ministerial Directive 107, which classified institutions into risk levels, affecting visa processing times.
Universities Australia Chair Professor David Lloyd criticized the move, citing a 23% drop in visa grants, a $4.3 billion economic hit, and 14,000 jobs at risk. Group of Eight Chief Executive Vicki Thomson also opposed the cap, highlighting the sector’s economic significance ($50 billion export industry, supporting 250,000 jobs) and the lack of economic modeling on the impact of caps.
The University of Melbourne’s vice-chancellor, Professor Duncan Maskell, warned of detrimental consequences for the university, sector and nation. The cap is set to come into effect in January 2025, pending legislative amendments.
