The student visa fee increase will have a disproportionate impact on non-award ‘learning abroad’ program students, Australian students and global partnerships, and visa program integrity. This is the proposition put to the Minister.
The letter, co-signed by CEO Phil Honeywood, and members of the Learning Abroad Network Simon Watson – Convener (UTS), Ashley Tanks – Deputy Convener (ACU) and Jeannette Geesmann – Deputy Convener (UWA) expresses concern on behalf of all colleagues in university Learning Abroad offices and international divisions about the recent immediate implementation of increased student visa costs to $1600 per application.
We believe that the implementation of a $1600 visa fee is an unreasonable cost imposition for a non-award student studying in Australia for a semester, or 5–10-month period. For many the new visa fee will be equivalent to the cost of return travel to Australia, a significant disincentive to choose Australia. Other host countries’ visas are affordable, and this cohort will immediately divert to other countries and may not return, leaving campuses less diverse.
They are absolutely right.
Vice President, Global at Griffith University Sarah Todd agrees and said when speaking with the Koala “At a time when Australian universities are working hard to offset the ongoing impact of COVID and border closures on Australian students’ ability to include an international experience in their degree programs, the latest increase in student visa application fees will reduce the attractiveness of Australia as a destination for exchange students at partner universities around the world.”
“Student exchange is a critical component of our internationalisation strategies and important in broadening and strengthening partnerships with leading universities globally. Having their students spend a semester on our campuses adds to the diversity of our student communities, as well as providing opportunities for domestic students to engage with them, and go on a reciprocal exchange themselves. Requiring exchange and other short-term international students, who have no intention of staying in Australia beyond a few months, to pay $1600 for their student visa will see them abandoning plans to study here and spend their exchange somewhere else.”
“Our university partnerships and Australian students will be the ones to suffer, while we are also losing the opportunity as a country to add to the global network of alumni and friends of Australia who have had a transformative experience as part of their degree studies.” She says and summarises the current situation well.
Why are learning abroad students different?
The letter articulates the rationale behind treating students learning abroad differently. They state:
Learning Abroad programs at universities are a key part of Australian education’s soft power diplomacy, welcoming over 12,000 non-award student visa holders in 2023 for exchange and study abroad programming via longstanding global connections.
Non-award students are high-value, add diversity and demonstrate visa compliance. Specifically, they study for usually one, or maximum two semesters in universities across Australia, for a duration of 15-18 weeks. They choose to come to Australia ‘mid degree’, for semesters of study and then return home. Non-award students add significant diversity to international enrolments, drawing students predominantly from the Americas and Europe, and are low risk in that they comply with visa requirements. They return home as future ambassadors and advocates for Australia and our education system in their home countries.
Non-award students are a key to Australia’s global soft power diplomacy and outreach. In the recent Draft International Education and Skills Framework, the Department of Education fully acknowledges that ‘The Learning Abroad sector is precisely aligned to the mechanism of ‘Stewardship’’ and references, among other elements, ‘ … a flourishing network of relationships. This includes people-to-people and institution-to-institution relationships, aligned to our national interests…Australia’s overseas networks based across Europe, Latin America, and North, South and Southeast Asia, build confidence in the quality of Australian education and support new and existing partnerships.’ (Draft Framework, p. 17).
Non-award students’ study at universities as the result decades-long exchange partnerships and agreements. These deep institutional, people-to-people links play a significant role in strengthening Australia’s reputation internationally. Australian universities have made huge efforts to restore trust after borders closed during the pandemic. Actions that drive away non-award students again will damage these global relationships for years.
Importantly, reciprocal exchange programs enable Australian students the opportunity to learn abroad cost free. These are the partnerships that allow up to 58,000 Australian university students the opportunity to learn abroad annually (2019 AUIDF LA Survey), including on the Government’s New Colombo Plan. This change will affect domestic students too.
Warning: Another Government policy that has unintended consequences
The letter advises the minister that the new visa fee will drive perverse behaviour from non-award students reducing the integrity of the Australian visa system. University Learning Abroad offices are already receiving messages of concern from partner institutions about the visa costs and raising alternatives. For many in this cohort the Working Holiday or Tourist visa categories will become an affordable option.
We anticipate a spike in uptake of the Working Holiday category from this cohort, an unsatisfactory immigration outcome. Universities also believe that non-award students deserve the protection of the ESOS act under the Student visa that cannot be assured on another visa type. Other visas do not have an Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) requirement, so there may be unintended impacts from underinsurance imposed upon Australian public health and emergency services systems.
Again, they are completely correct.
The Ask
So what’s the solution?
The letter requests that the Minister reconsiders applying the student visa fee increase to non-award Learning Abroad students and suggest a visa fee at 50% of degree seeking student visa holder ($800) would be reasonable cost, acknowledging that non-award students stay for less than one year in Australia.
Seems like a fair request.
Let’s see what the Minister may do.
