Good afternoon

Two stories this week underline the growing political tension over immigration and how it is playing out for universities and other higher education providers.

The Albanese government’s slowdown in issuing international student visas is expected to cost universities at least $500 million in lost student fees this year, plus a lot more for independent education providers. And the burden is falling very unevenly because, while a few fortunate education providers (including the richest universities) still have healthy numbers of international students coming from countries like China, the government visa slowdown is focused on students from countries with higher visa risk, such as India.

This hits hard at those universities not in the top tier which are reliant on India and other countries in the subcontinent for their international students. It explains why University of Tasmania vice-chancellor Rufus Black has decided it would be better if the government imposed a cap on international student numbers and directed more of them to places like Tasmania where housing is not scarce and the students’ economic contribution would be welcome.

Such market intervention would have been inconceivable a year ago, but that’s where we now are. We’re in election mode and Labor will do whatever it has to do to drive down the number of international student arrivals in the next 12 months.

Until next Wednesday