The education equation: what Australia needs to do to grow its education exports - Education - IDP Education Australia report summary

Business Asia, June, 2003

Australia's international education sector could have close to one million students by 2025, but needs to overcome several hurdles in order to live up to its potential.

Latest research by IDP Education Australia, an education and development services body owned by 38 of Australia's 39 universities, has forecast that by 2025, the total demand for international higher education in Australia will be more than 996,000 students--an astronomical number compared to present day levels of about 160,000 students.

But if any export sector were to record that meteoric a rise, then education would be it. Starting off from negligible levels in the early 1990s, Australia's education sector has grown into a massive industry that was worth $4.2 billion in 2002. Early forecasts for 2003 have pegged an increase to up to $5 billion. Australia has forged a reputation for being a safe and "value for money" destination for international students, and now accounts for three per cent of overall global demand.

Potential

IDP chief executive Lindy Hyam admits that the figure of 996,000 international students by 2025 may seem bullish, but is indicative of the massive potential the sector holds.

"We did a similar study in 1996, and we were proven to be very much on the mark with our growth figures, and in fact underestimated in some cases," she said.

"The challenge for Australia is going to be managing that growth effectively and positively, and ensuring appropriate community and government approaches and policies. Those figures are extremely high, but they do provide a platform for planning."

According to IDP's forecasts, contained in the study Global Student Mobility 2025, transnational or offshore programs will account for 44 per cent of demand by 2025, with onshore making up the rest. Asia will continue to be the main source of students, with demand from Asia growing to 92 per cent by 2025 (compared to present levels of 83 per cent). India and China will be the fast movers, with the two forecast to account for more than 50 per cent of total global international student numbers.

Diversity

In the short to medium term, Hyam says diversity is the key challenge the Australian education sector must meet. This includes not only diversity in the source countries of students, but also in the types of courses Australia offers and the disciplines that are offered.

Continuing to increase the number of different countries Australia's international students hail from is particularly important, Hyam says, as the country's multiculturalism is a key attraction for prospective students.

"A diversification strategy needs to be put in place strongly now because for students, one of the reasons they come here is to be part of an international cohort, and so it's extremely important for Australia to maintain that multicultural mix," she said.

The different types of educational programs offered (such as undergraduate, postgraduate, English language etc) needs to be varied, Hyam says, as well as the courses being offered.

"Diversity of discipline is very important for our future. We have a very strong student cohort here in the areas of IT, business, commerce, multimedia--but I do think that we have many other discipline areas that we excel in that are only just now starting to be understood, such as biotechnology and science related agricultural areas," she said.

More research

To ensure success in the long term, Hyam says more research must be undertaken to better understand the supply and demand pressures the sector will face.

"We need to understand what makes up that demand--how that demand is broken up in terms of source countries, programs, level of study, field of study etc," she said.

"We then need to understand the supply position, because clearly with those kinds of numbers our current supply arrangements will not able to meet that demand--I think we're talking about every university in Australia having on average 23,500 international education students. So the supply side means that there's an opportunity for other providers and other sectors to be involved in the education process. Already we're seeing joint arrangements between different sectors to address the demand opportunities that exist.

"There also needs to be a dialogue between the local community and their institutions of higher learning about the opportunities, social impacts and appropriate relationships between the international student cohort and the community."

Government also plays an important role. Hyaym says a whole of government policy must be put in place when dealing with the future of education.

"International education has grown to such an extent so quickly that in a country like Australia, it really isn't the province of a particular ministry of government--it is really the province of government at its broadest level," she said. "That whole of government approach is extremely important, so that you have immigration working together with trade, with tourism, with education, and with social and community policy areas as well."