International students wanting to study in Australia must pay a higher fee for tuition and living compared to the rest of the world.
Boston Consulting Group puts the annual cost of studying and living in Australia at $US44,000 compared with $US37,000 in the United States and $US30,000 in the United Kingdom.
Kyaw Zay Ya, a Burmese international student currently studying a Bachelor of Communication Design at RMIT University initially considered studying in the US and UK but chose Australia for culture and wellbeing reasons in addition to a recommendation from his lecturer in Singapore.
“We paid too much for our tuition and living costs here. I don’t mind [paying] if they give [us] a chance to apply for permanent residency after we graduated, but sadly our major is not in the first priority,” Ya said.
“Everything has [a] positive and negative side. Living and studying in Australia, I feel more peaceful and relaxed.”
“It is different with [the] Asia country education system, I felt like I can improve my skill much better in here if I have to compare with my study life in Singapore.”
Australian universities must also deal with issues such as currency fluctuations and government immigration policies when seeking to attract international students.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics report reveal international students contributed $14.6 billion to the economy after reaching its peak of $17 billion in 2009 maintaining education as Australia’s third largest export income.
The top 5 countries which have international students studying in Australia are China (28.6%), India (13.1%), South Korea (5.4%), Vietnam (4.3%) and Malaysia (4.1%).
RMIT’s Journalism undergraduate from Laos, Anna Viravong, has been a regular visitor to Australia from a young age. Though she has relatives in Melbourne, her first university preference was Singapore.
“Although, common sense tells that international students are often from a wealthy family and can afford this lifestyle,” Viravong says, “[for] those who are not are on scholarship, I still think it’s extremely overpriced.”
“I would say my study and living experience here have been quite decent, but I do think international students should be paying a lot less for transport and education.”
Currently, overseas full-fee paying students are not eligible for Victorian Public Transport student concession cards.
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