“I think that at a minimum there should be a floor on the tuition fees of international students, they should have a minimum tuition fee equal to the average amount paid on behalf of domestic students,” he said. .

“They should pay at least the same. They are in some universities. But in many universities, they pay a lot less. International students do not bear the full cost of their studies.

However, Australian National University higher education analyst Andrew Norton questioned the inclusion of research funding in domestic student income, saying most universities see this as an activity. independent.

“There is no relationship between research funding and the number of national courses,” he said. “If you look at the income from students in domestic courses, it comes down to just under $ 20,000. [per student]. “

“Many of our projects are based on a combination of foreign students. “

Phil honeywood

The chief executive of the International Education Association of Australia, Phil Honeywood, said that the tuition fees for international students are on average about three times that of a domestic student.

“We have international students paying $ 100,000 a year for certain degrees,” he said. “I know how carefully our vice-chancellors weigh the markets before changing fees. We want to encourage our students to come back here.

“[International fee revenue] subsidizes research and subsidizes investment work. A problem we also have is that without international postgraduate students much of our research cannot be conducted.

“We just don’t have STEM [science, technology, engineering, maths] because we just don’t have any STEM course graduates among our national cohorts. Many of our projects are based on a combination of foreign students.

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