Australia’s booming international education sector looks set for even more growth this year according to the latest student enrolment figures, released today.
The data shows that international student enrolments across all education sectors increased by 11 per cent in the first three months of 2015 when compared with the same period last year.
Minister for Education and Training, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP, welcomed the data and said all signs indicate that 2015 will be another good year for Australian international education.
International education services is Australia’s third largest export and drives at least 130,000 full time equivalent jobs around Australia.
“The nine per cent growth seen in English language courses enrolments is expected to include many international students who will proceed on to further study in Australia later in the year,” Mr Pyne said.
“Australia hosted the largest number of international higher education students we have ever seen last year, and these early 2015 figures suggest this year will be even better.”
“The data shows that our commitment to strengthening Australia’s international education sector is working. It also highlights the importance of the Draft National Strategy for International Education, which I released earlier this month.
“The draft strategy sets a structured course for sustainable future growth in this integral component of Australia’s world-class education system.”
Mr Pyne said the consultation process for the strategy is underway and encouraged any written feedback on the draft to be submitted before Friday 29 May 2015.
International student statistics are available at: www.internationaleducation.gov.au.