The Australian government has announced Student Visa caps commencing 2025. The Australian government in a release yesterday stated “Subject to the passage of legislation before the Parliament, [the government] will set a National Planning Level (NPL) for new international student commencements of 270,000 for calendar year 2025.”
The new cap has been referred to as the National Planning Level and will affect all higher education and VET providers. Higher degree by research programs, standalone language training centers and schools will, however, be exempt from the cap.
The cap will be distributed across the higher education and VET sector with the aim to limit entry into Australia to pre-pandemic levels an d manage growth in the future better.
How the cap will be distributed:
145,000 international commencements will be distributed among all public universities in 2025. This, the Australian government says, is roughly equivalent to the international student entries in 2023. Each institution will receive an individual cap in an International Student Profile (ISP). Universities with higher levels of international students will receive a lower cap and universities with lower international student concentrations will receive a higher cap.
30,000 international commencements other universities and non-university providers. This includes university colleges, standalone colleges and pathway programs. The rest of the seats, 95,000 in total, will go to the VET sector.
Risk Levels Replaced by NPL
The National Planning Level will replace Ministerial Directive 107. Ministerial directive classified Australian Universities into 3 risk levels with preferential treatment reserved for ‘low-risk’ universities. Minister of Education Jason Clare stated that this would be beneficial for many universities because universities at level 2 and level 3 in the risk assessment levels experienced longer visa wait times which will not be the case in 2025.
Higher Education Institutions React with Outrage
Universities across Australia are united in their condemnation of the cap. Universities Australia Chair Professor David Lloyd says “Even without legislated powers to limit international student numbers, the Government has already taken a sledgehammer to the international education sector.” This is understandable in light of the fact that the money paid by international students goes a long way in sustaining the Australian higher education sector.
Group of Eight (Go8) Chief Executive Vicki Thomson stated “Today the Federal Government announced that it intends recklessly to proceed with international student caps – introducing cuts to Go8 members who do the heavy lifting in research, education as well as underpinning Australia’s global reputation as a high-quality international education provider”.
