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Overseas students happy with Australian education

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Ushering in a new era of optimism in the Australian international education sector, Universities Australia has just released their annual International Student Barometer Report (2010). The report has some good news, with a high percentage of international students in Australia giving their experience the thumbs up...

While the Australian international educational sector has recently been plagued by predictions of decreasing student numbers, this Report highlights the important reasons why Australia remains the destination of choice for hundreds of thousands of international students each and every year.

Despite dramatic changes to the VET education sector and an overhaul of the Skilled Occupation List, Australia remains an attractive destination for students. Releasing the findings of a report which seeks to understand both the expectations and experiences of the international students body here in Australia, Universities Australia has good news to share with the industry.

Positive experience
Interviewing more than 36,000 international students presently studying in the higher education sector, Universities Australia reports that fully 86% of all international students surveyed were satisfied with their educational experience. Accordingly, issues such as satisfaction with the arrival process (86%), learning environment (84%) and living environment (86%) were also high.

Australia remains an attractive destination for international students for numerous reasons and this report demonstrates that from the perception of the international student presently studying in this country, things are good. According to Universities Australia CEO Dr. Glenn Withers: 'These findings show that a significant majority of our international students are having fruitful and rewarding experiences, a fact sometimes overlooked in public discussion.'

Australian universities are delivering
Fundamentally, students are enjoying their time here and while the higher education sector does differ from the VET and English-language sectors, this positive report bodes well for the industry as a whole. When asked whether or not they would recommend their Australian university to future applicants - both prospective domestic and international students considering higher education in this country - fully 76% of all surveyed would recommend their institution to others.

These remarkable statistics are a testament to the fact that international education in this country is perceived by those who are here and studying in Australia's universities, to be in good working order.

While there are topical issues which need to be addressed in order to ensure the sustainability of education in Australia - such as the availability of affordable accommodation - the international educational sector appears to be on an upswing with the release of this latest report from Universities Australia.

The year 2010 was a challenging year for Australian education, but the International Student Barometer Report (2010) makes it clear that when it comes to the perceptions and expectations of international students who are already here and studying at our universities, Australia is doing well.

The International Student Barometer Report can be found on the Universities Australia site here

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