Presented by Robert Clark MP		www.robertclark.net

Victoria attracts more foreign tertiary students

The number of overseas students enrolled in Victorian universities increased by 24% in the past year.

However, about 70% of this growth occurred at offshore campuses.

Thousands of overseas students who want to come to Victoria are forced to study offshore or go to other countries such as Britain or the USA because they can’t get an Australian visa.

Minister for Tertiary Education and Training Phil Honeywood said: "Understaffed visa sections at Australian embassies abroad, three to four-month turnaround times for visa processing, and visa application fees that are three times higher than for the USA and UK all work against this major industry."

The latest figures from IDP Education Australia show that the number of overseas students enrolled in Victorian universities increased by 6349 from 26,513 in 1998 to 32,862 in 1999.

The increase in campuses in Victoria was just 11% or 1955 from 17,852 in 1998 to 19,807 in 1999. The increase on campuses off-shore was 53% or 4349 from 8182 in 1998 to 12,531 in 1999.

Mr Honeywood said he would continue to raise with the Federal Government his concerns about its student visa policy.

Victoria’s overall share of the overseas student market in Australia increased from 33% in 1998 to 35% this year.