The Australian Department of Education on 24 May 2024 released its annual Finance Tables for 2022, providing data from the 2022 financial statements for higher education providers. This release provides the opportunity for a belated look at the extent to which universities in Australia relied on revenue from fees from international students in 2022, ahead of the third perfect storm.
It is important to note that this belated release covers 2022. There is a full year of data for boom year 2023 yet to be released before the impact of the 2024 perfect storm will be measured.
In 2022, the 41 Australian universities in 2022 had total revenue of $34.68 billion, from $38.86 billion in 2021. The 41 Australian universities in 2022 earned $8.57 billion from international student fees, from $8.72 billion in 2021.
In the first perfect storm, revenue from international student fees was flat at $3.88 billion in 2010, $4.12 billion in 2011, $4.13 billion in 2012 and $4.29 billion in 2013, then grew to $7.46 billion in 2017, $8.84 billion in 2018 and $9.98 billion in 2019, before the second perfect storm saw a drop to $9.22 billion in 2020, $8.72 billion in 2021 and $8.57 billion in 2022.
Revenue from International Students $ billions
In 2022, the range among the 41 universities was from $1.1 million to $1,402.6 million. The mean across the 41 universities in 2022 was $209.1 million, the median figure was $97.6 million, as in the chart. Group of 8 universities are in red.
University Revenue from International Students $ millions
The University of Sydney is the university with international student fee revenue above $1 billion. Income from international student fees in 2022 was $1.403 billion, 46.8% of total revenue $2.995 billion.
Proportion of Revenue from International Students
In the 41 universities, revenue from international student fees in 2022 made up 24.7% of total university revenue, from 22.5% in 2021.
In the first perfect storm, the proportion was flat at 17.6% in 2010 and 17.5% in 2011, then dropped to 16.4% in 2012 and 16.3% in 2013, then grew to 23.3% in 2017, 26.2% in 2018 and 27.4% in 2019, before the second perfect storm saw a drop to 26.6% in 2020 and 22.5% in 2021, then 24.7% in 2022.
Proportion of Revenue from International Students
In 2022, the range among the 41 universities was from 3.4% to 54.4%. The mean across the 41 universities in 2022 was 19.7%, the median figure was 17.3%. Group of 8 universities are in red.
University Proportion of Revenue from International Students
In the above chart, the university with the highest proportion of revenue from international student fees is Torrens University Australia, where $161 million in fees from international students made up 54.4% of total revenue of $296 million.
Next is The University of Sydney, where $1.403 billion in fees from international students made up 46.8% of total revenue of $3.531 billion.
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