Foreign Student Numbers To Soar
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday October 4, 2002
Australia should prepare for a nine-fold increase in foreign students over the next two decades, according to the head of the country's largest foreign student recruitment agency.
Lindy Hyam, chief executive of the university-owned IDP Australia, predicted yesterday that almost a million foreign students would be studying in Australian institutions by 2025, mostly from east and south Asia.
In 2000, 101,000 foreign students were enrolled in Australian universities.
On present growth patterns, Ms Hyam said, 44 per cent of these would be studying online or at offshore faculties of Australian universities. Almost two thirds (62 per cent) would be from China, India, Malaysia and India.
Ms Hyam said it was an ``incredible opportunity to further engage with the world", but Australian institutions would need to prepare adequate accommodation.
In another paper also released at an international education conference in Hobart yesterday, research found only 4 per cent of Americans studying abroad chose Australia as a destination, making it their sixth most popular destination.
© 2002 Sydney Morning Herald
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