Nearly half of Australia’s 39 universities have business faculties that are heavily reliant on Asian enrolments.  In 2008, students from China, India, Malaysia and Singapore, accounted for more than 40 percent of total business enrolments at 17 Australian universities.   At RMIT in 2008, 35% of all enrolments in the business faculty were international students from Singapore.  At Macquarie University in 2008, roughly 40% of students studying business were International students from China.  While at the University of Ballarat in 2008, roughly 33% of students were International students from India. 

In the future, international students will have more options and Australian universities will face increasing competition from providers in students’ home countries.   China has added the equivalent capacity of the Australia higher education sector each year for the last five years. In 2009 the Indian Finance minister increased the higher education budget by 55% and invited foreign universities to open colleges in India.

It is not merely the quantity of higher education places in students’ home countries that is increasing but quality too.  The London School of Economics currently offers undergraduate degrees in economics, finance and management taught by The Indian School of Business and Finance in New Delhi. These degrees are designed by the LSE, carry the LSE name and have the added bonus of tuition fees that are roughly one fifth of what student studying outside India would pay.     

Although these initiatives are unlikely impact Australian providers in the short term and some students will continue to choose to study in Australia, they do suggest that the higher education sector will not sustain its current growth and will have to persue other revenue streams.

Implication - Australian Universities should plan on an increasingly competitive market for students, particularly from Asian Universities and be prepared to answer some tough marketing questions about their positioning and ‘offer’ to these students. 

Sources:

Stephen Matchett, “A lesson in cornering the market”, The Australian, March 24, 2010

Nandini Laskshman, “India to Foreign Colleges: Set Up Campus Here”, Time, July 31, 2009