<<Why do not the foreign students get their education in their own countries?>>

Because ours is better, with a much better reputation. We have been advertising for students to come here for a long time. It’s called exporting education and it adds to the countries balance sheet.

<<Is it really a backdoor method of immigration whereby the students obtain permanent residency visas and how many get such visas per year?>>

No, the terms of student visas are quite clear. Post-graduate students (ie PhD or masters) can sometimes get permanent residency after graduation, but not all. For the stats you would have to ask immigration. But at least you know they're well educated and speak English.

<<Are the visas that the students obtain counted in with the number of incoming migrants each year or are they seperate and additional to the incoming number?>>

Again, immigration may have that info.

<<Just where does all the income from the foreign students go? it has been stated that it costs each student $40,000 per year.>>
Most stays within the university and pays for admin and course costs. In some course it actually helps to pay for what HECS does not. So Australian students actually benefit from them.

<<I do not recall us, the taxpayers, being asked about this nor has there been information freely available. Like multiculturalism, it just happened.>>

No, it didn’t just happen, it’s been happening for more than 20 years. Even though you were not personally consulted, the general public were told on almost continual basis for almost all of that time. Read the Higher Education section of the Australian or some other news publication that has a section that focuses on tertiary education. The government and university's administration does not door-knock.

It’s been a big push by the government because it means that they didn’t have to increase spending on the tertiary education sector as much as they should have. So now we actually need the foreign students, isn’t that ironic.

1. Foreign students with Visas that have been issued after 26 April 2008 will automatically include permission to work while they are studying, they can work up to 20 hours a week during academic semesters and full-time during vacation periods.
The big number of foreign students and their right to work creates
problems to Australian labours and australian students.
In hard times like now, of cause the international financial crisis, foreign student's right to work CREATES PROBLEMS TO LOCALS!
But there is a small number of Australians who are against foreign studens, because they are racist!
2. Foreign students bring billions of dolars to Australia and when they return to their countries they behave like our ambasadors in their countries
They promote our values and they play an important role on the improvement of economic relations between Australia and their countries. Of cause the foreign students I believe that our exports to their countries will increase continously.
3. We have no problem if we allow millions of foreign students, they leave plenty money in Australia, BUT WE MUST CARE THE FOREIGN STUDENTS NOT TO CREATE PROBLEMS TO OUR STUDENTS AND OUR EMPLOYEES.
Antonios Symeonakis
Adelaide

Maximillion, I'll make this simple for you.

There is nothing wrong with ignorance unless it's denied. You need to not only overcome your ignorance of the difference between inferential and decriptive statistics, but also learn how to seek out valid and reliable information for yourself. I've provided you with a couple of links that will provide you with many of the numbers (i.e. descriptive statistics) that you seek.

Further information is abundantly available - the problem is in knowing what's reliable and/or valid. As far as Banjo's questions go, Bugsy's extensive reply pretty well answers them in general terms - all of which, as he says, have been relatively prominent in public debate for decades. And as pelican says, there have been negatives associated with the commercialisation of education that have also been well-reported.

Ignorance of these events is not because reliable and valid information has not been forthcoming - rather, it's because some people aren't interested... until it becomes a 'racial'/cultural issue. of course.

Wow - mind boggling stuff.

Thanks Banjo for asking all those questions -And Bugsy -
Thanks for providing all those answers. You live and
learn! Great stuff! I learned quite a lot from this
thread!

Horus - you're right about the Chinese student number
I quoted. I vaguely remember that number only referred
to students from China itself - not from any other
Asian countries. So, you're absolutely spot on!

I love threads like this one - where the info. just
keeps coming...

Good job.

Thanks all for your input and i hope to see lots more.

Pelican,
From your link, it appears that there are many more questions to be asked beyond what I listed. I do not think any would like to think that some are being ripped off.

Do you think there is need for a Parliamentry inquiry and how extensive should that be.

Bugsy,
Thanks for your info. I doubt I would get that from the Immigration Dept. Now I will get their website up and see what is there.
The 500,000 figure does seem high to me.

China and India are big countries and I wonder why they do not set up high standard Unis there. I can understand small countries and those with limited funds sending students here but not the large ones. I think it not unreasonable for us to offer scholarships to students in a number of small countries and it would be even better if their education was used to improve their countries. Somehow it does not seem right that we poach skilled workers from countries that need them themselves.

I have heard about 'mickey mouse' courses being offered purely so the students qualify for permanent residentcy, would you comment on this. Also what you think about an inquiry.

Yes, I am ignorant of many matters relating to higher education and took no interest until the main stream media brought it to attention. Its a bit like not being concerned about the school bus unless you have kids that use it

Banjo,

<<Thanks for your info. >>

You’re welcome

<< I doubt I would get that from the Immigration Dept. Now I will get their website up and see what is there.>>

Somehow, I also doubt that that info is there also.

<<The 500,000 figure does seem high to me.>>

I do not know the truth of that figure, but I cannot say whether it is high or not. But it appears to me that if there are 500,000 students paying for their study, then the government has transferred a severe funding shortfall to make up if they weren’t there.

But at a rough calculation of approximately 40 universities in Australia, with the largest (eg U.Melb) having international enrolments of approximately 10,500
http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/careers/employers/recruit-info/intl-students.html

then that would give us less than a 500,000 total. Keeping in mind that most of the 40 unis are much, much smaller than that. This leads me to question the veracity of the statistic. Where did you spot it? Maybe we can track it down.

<<China and India are big countries and I wonder why they do not set up high standard Unis there.>>

They have, but they also have a billion people each and international education is highly regarded, many postgraduates return to their own countries to become quite good academics within thise universities.

<<I can understand small countries and those with limited funds sending students here but not the large ones.>>

We send our students overseas, and so do the Americans. It is a good practice to expose your next generation of academics to international education.

<<I think it not unreasonable for us to offer scholarships to students in a number of small countries and it would be even better if their education was used to improve their countries. >>

We do and it does.

(cont'd)