dj "The article is about universities"

No it's not, it's about education, Asians who come here for it and how disappointed they are that things are not as they want - and it looks like now they will go somewhere else

boo hoo

"There are some realities that all Australians will need to face up to in relation to Australian universities. First, the Australian government no longer provides all, or even an overwhelming majority of, a university’s funding. Second, fee paying foreign students provide a substantial part of a university’s income. ..."

I think its about universities Amicus. It says so pretty clearly. If you want to be precious you can say its about university education.

Wah Wah wah .....

"No it's not, it's about education, Asians who come here for it and how disappointed they are that things are not as they want - and it looks like now they will go somewhere else"

Yeah, because those Asians should really be more stoic about being treated like cash cows and getting beaten up.

--Special English training programs
--Subsidized accommodation
--Free pubic transport
--Easy citizenship

The above are amongst some of the carrots being proposed, either in this article or elsewhere, to attract foreign students.
I sometimes wonder whether our education providers are running a business or a welfare service --perhaps it’s really another Colombo plan.

And as for this claim: “For a variety of reasons the appeal of Australia as a destination for foreign students has declined. At the same time other countries, such as the UK, the US and other Asian nations are starting to attract more foreign students.”

Yes, I can well envisage more going to the UK or US --though if the Arizona illegal-immigrant initiative takes hold, that venue might lose favour too.But I seriously doubt “other Asian nations” will be heavy competition, since it does seem one of the major attractors --to many of our current influx of foreign students--is backdoor citizenship. And opportunities for citizenship in Asian education provider nations, for any but the crème de la crème, will be very limited indeed.
(I hear Saudi Arabia is planning a big super-duper uni soon –but the chances it will offer easy citizenship are remote –and the likelihood that many of its foreign intake will seek citizenship, even more remote —LOL)

“If we don’t bend over backwards to pander to foreign students, their countries of origin will not like us" is second cousin to the argument “if we don’t take immigrants, our trading partners wont like us”,and nephew to the line, “unless you go to bed with me, we can’t stay friends”