SYDNEY: Australia’s position on Asia’s doorstep, and its ability to offer quality, English-speaking university courses, has made it a major player in the global education market.

It’s an increasingly lucrative business, with Australian universities keen to tap into a buoyant overseas market by exploiting their geographical allure and relatively cheap tuition compared to Britain and the United States.

Taiwanese student Max Chang, who has just completed a masters in applied science at Sydney University, said his family initially wanted him to enrol in a US institution but he found the costs were far lower in Australia.

Chang, 30, said he had also applied for permanent residency in Australia, where he has lived for more than six years.

“The first two or three years were an adjustment but I’ve found most people in Sydney very friendly,” he said.

Winly Jurnawan, a 24-year-old Indonesian studying information technology, said Australia’s proximity to home was a deciding factor in his choice.

“I can visit my family in Jakarta during the holidays,” he said.

Jurnawan also said that students in Australia tended to be more independent and less “spoon-fed” than their equivalents in Indonesia.

Government figures released this year showed that in 2004-05, this country raked in some $7.9 billion from overseas university students, three-quarters of them from Asia.

“There’s great interest in Asia in receiving English-language tertiary education from reputable universities,” said Professor Grant Harman from the University of New England’s Centre for Higher Education Management and Policy.

“It means there’s a certain status attached to studying at an Australian university,” he said.

Figures show Australia hosted more than 170,000 overseas tertiary students last year, making it the world’s third largest education exporter after the United States (565,000) and Britain (235,000).

Official data rank education as Australia’s third largest export earner, eclipsing traditional money-spinners such as beef, wheat and wool.

More than 75 per cent of the overseas students come from Asia. Their origins make for interesting reading.

In 2006, China accounted for 70,000 students, India 34,000, South Korea 25,000, Malaysia 17,900, Hong Kong 16,700, Japan 14,600, Thailand 13,250, Indonesia 12,550 and Singapore 8,800.

A treasury report here says that Asian students are attracted by Australia’s closeness to their own home, its safety and pleasant lifestyle, as well as the opportunity to hone English language skills.

It is also relatively cheap compared to northern hemisphere competitors.

Once they have finished their studies, Asian students are also attracted by the possibility of migrating Down Under, the report says.

“The emergence of a larger middle class in countries in east Asia which have long placed a high value on education (has) provided a ready source of students,” it concluded.

Annual tuition fees in Australia range from $8,900 to 16,800, compared to 10,000 to 50,000 in the United States, according to US and Australian government data.

However, the explosive growth has not come without its challenges.

Asian countries have ramped up their own educational sectors, particularly China but also Singapore, which has declared its aim to become the “regional schoolhouse” for Asia.

Some Australian universities have responded by setting up offshore campuses in Asia, offering lower tuition fees and the chance to receive a western-style education at home.

While there have been successful examples in Vietnam and Malaysia, a University of New South Wales research campus in Singapore closed after it failed to meet ambitious enrolments targets.

Doctor Tracey Bretag from the University of South Australia said there were also concerns that using fees from overseas students to prop up an under-funded tertiary sector was having a long-term impact on academic standards.

Harman said the rising value of Australia’s dollar meant the relative cost of some courses had doubled for overseas students since 2000.

Despite the problems, research firm IDP Education predicts international student numbers will reach 270,000 by 2025 on the back of strong demand.

“The number of international students seeking Australian university education will almost double in the next two decades, challenging universities' ability to deal with demand,” IDP Education chief executive Anthony Pollock said.—AFP