Having international students in Australia gives us a head start in the global race to attract skilled migrants. COVID border closures that halved their numbers could have very long-term costs.
International education is a huge source of income for the sector and the broader economy, but students are concentrated in a limited number of institutions and most come from a few source countries.
Indian students in Australia haven’t had the experience they hoped and paid for. Campuses closed, they lost work and they watched helplessly from afar as COVID-19 ravaged their home country.
Community-run centres in regional and remote Australia are having positive impacts on students who were historically under-represented at university and at high risk of dropping out.
The subsidies for student places up to 2024 fall about $1.1 billion short of the level needed to create the extra places the government promised its Job-ready Graduates policy would deliver.
New research shows mindfulness training can be effective when delivered online. The benefits for university students included one particularly notable development for well-being.
Rather than just blaming the students, educators must consider why course materials are not being read and develop strategies to tackle the problems students face.
Cancelling campus events won’t address the potential harms of binge drinking this fall. Universities must plan additional activities to curb risky alcohol use and promote student wellness.
Many universities overseas have already made vaccination a condition of being allowed on campus. There are precedents for this policy, which is based on strong public health and economic grounds.
People living outside our big cities face many obstacles to going to university, but the innovations during lockdowns have opened a door to permanently improving their access and experience of study.
Digital technology and COVID-19 have transformed the ways universities are delivering courses. But some are taking a minimalist low-cost approach, while others are aiming higher.
Queer people have learned to build and rely on “chosen families.” Finding ways to creatively bolster and expand our networks of care takes on renewed importance in the pandemic.
Increasingly strained relations between the two countries are adding to the challenges of teaching students enrolled in Chinese studies at Australian universities.
Nursing students are 90% female, often mature-age students who are still expected to carry most of the housework and childcare load while they study. Something has to give.
Treating online education as a cheap alternative to lectures will be a mistake. At first universities will probably have to allow more preparation time and invest more in training and technology.