Increasing future student revenue, including from international students, is a key priority for the Australian National University (ANU) but must be done sustainably, according to Interim Vice-Chancellor Professor Rebekah Brown. Speaking at a community meeting on Tuesday, Brown provided an update on the ANU Roadmap and the co-design of the next University strategy. Her remarks come as ANU faces intense public scrutiny over financial difficulties, staff redundancies and broader concerns about institutional morale.
According to Brown, ANU is currently sitting at 76 per cent of its 2025 New Overseas Student Commencement (NOSC) of 3400, making it the only Group of Eight university yet to reach its 2025 NOSC. This shortfall represents a potential $46m loss in revenue for this year.
(A side note that this figure appears to contradict the latest Department of Education report on student visa prioritisation status, which lists ANU as being at Priority 2 – Standard as at 31 October. A provider moves from Priority 1 – High to Priority 2 once it reaches 80 per cent of its NOSC indicative allocation. The discrepancy may be due to a lag in data collection and reporting.)
Regardless of this, ANU is seeking to increase its international student pipeline in 2026, aiming to fully realise the 10 per cent increase in its 2026 NOSC allocation to 3750. One strategy to achieve this is the incentivising of education agents who exceed their threshold targets.
When speaking about growth in international student numbers Brown said, “we must do that in a sustainable way; in a way that works for us and who we are and that it is not detrimental to the student experience, the learning experience and what we love to do at ANU”.
The closure of ANU College at the end of 2022 left a gap in the University’s pathway and English language provision. In response, ANU launched a pilot program with the University of Canberra College in January, allowing ELICOS students to undertake 10 weeks of English before progressing to ANU.
The University anticipates 295 new international students will enter via this pathway in the first semester of 2026. Although Brown did not confirm whether the pilot would become permanent, she noted it had significantly reduced administrative costs associated with ELICOS delivery.
Looking ahead, the ANU Executive has approved the establishment of a new Foundation College. The University also plans to pursue new transnational education arrangements and partnerships, capitalising on the current government’s push for universities to engage in TNE. A future phase of the ANU Roadmap will also include a ‘redevelopment of the overseas student attraction strategy’.
While none of ANU’s initiatives are particularly revolutionary within Australia’s international education sector, the University will be hoping that these measures will be enough to rebuild its international student numbers and begin to address broader financial and reputational challenges.
