An Australian university temporarily stopped accepting applications from international students, why?

As the Australian government plans to cap enrollment from early 2025, one university in the country is temporarily stopping accepting applications from international students.

The University of New South Wales has announced a temporary suspension of international student applications for 2025.

The University of New South Wales (UNSW) and its member school, UNSW College, recently announced that they will temporarily stop accepting applications for 2025. This means that international students who want to study at this school will not be able to register for the upcoming semesters, but will have to wait for the school to make a new announcement. Currently, the school has its own website for international students to "register their interest" in information about admissions for groups of majors.

Responding to The PIE News on November 6, a UNSW spokesperson said the move was in response to the Australian government’s new bill, which includes a cap on the number of new international students (NOSC). The school plans to hold multiple rounds of admissions and place students on a waiting list. Regarding admission, UNSW will base the selection on the academic performance of applicants and gradually announce the results for each training program, depending on the number of remaining places.

Confirming with Thanh Nien , Ms. Ngo Thanh Thao, Mekong Region Manager of UNSW, said the school has not temporarily stopped enrolling international students. "UNSW still welcomes Vietnamese students. However, due to the regulations in the new bill, the school must temporarily stop accepting applications to review the reality, ensuring that it does not accept more than the quota. During this period, interested students can register in the waiting line to receive instructions," Ms. Thao advised.

According to the QS World University Rankings 2025 (UK), UNWS is ranked 3rd in Australia and 19th globally. The new bill only allows the university to accept 9,500 NOSCs, a 14% decrease compared to 2023 and significantly lower than the estimated number of 17,359 in 2024. That is why the university must take precautions in advance, in case the bill is passed by the Australian Parliament and takes effect from 1.1.2025.

In addition to UNSW, the Australian Catholic University in September stopped recruiting international students for 2025 after reaching its enrollment limit. And not only UNSW, many other universities in the Group of Eight (G8) of Australia also received news that they could only recruit fewer students than in 2023, including the Australian National University, the University of Melbourne, and the University of Sydney. Meanwhile, Monash University, the University of Adelaide, the University of Western Australia, and the University of Queensland were allowed to increase their new enrollment quotas compared to 2023.

Also in the current context, many leading Australian universities have decided to increase tuition fees by 3-7% for international students from 2025. Not only increasing tuition fees for international students, some universities also intend or have completed plans to cut staff to save costs and make up for last year's deficit. And if the bill to cap enrollment is passed, universities will have to review 14,000 job positions to balance their finances.

Previously, in an exchange with Thanh Nien , many Australian universities such as Macquarie, Australian National University, and UNSW said that despite having to deal with the ceiling regulations, the schools still maintain their admission policies for Vietnamese students to ensure diversity of nationality, which is based on academic records and English proficiency. However, representatives of the schools also advise candidates to accept early admission as soon as they receive an invitation to avoid risks.

According to the Australian Department of Education , as of August, there were 803,639 international students studying in Australia. Of these, 36,490 were Vietnamese, ranking 5th. At leading universities, the number of Vietnamese students and researchers accounts for a significant proportion, such as about 600 at the University of Melbourne, 400 at the University of Adelaide, or in the top 10 in terms of number at the University of Queensland... Of which, Victoria is the state with the largest concentration of Vietnamese international students with 14,994 people.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/mot-truong-dai-hoc-uc-tam-ngung-nhan-ho-so-xin-hoc-tu-du-hoc-sinh-vi-sao-18524111012191519.htm