In a US$39 million deal, Flywire seizes Studylink from Navitas.

In a historic transaction valued at US$39 million, Navitas sold Studylink, a programme for foreign student applications, to financial behemoth Flywire.

Reports says that, Flywire is attempting to expand the growth of its market share in the Australian education payments industry while also “enhancing the value it provides to its global client, agent, and payer base.” 

According to Studylink CEO Jason Howard, Studylink’s admissions services and Flywire’s payment system will work together to provide students with a “combined solution” that will support them “from enrolment through to tuition and retention.”

Since 2006, Navitas has been a shareholder in Studylink and later rose to the position of majority shareholder. The press release stated that Navitas will be able to “expand their partnership” with Flywire following the purchase of Studylink, although it did not specify how this would work out. 

The CEO of Navitas, Scott Jones, expressed pride in Studylink’s expansion over the years, stating that the company was “ahead of its time” when Navitas joined. 

For overseas students studying in Australia, Studylink established the market for a cloud-based application and enrollment service. According to Flywire, the decision is “increasingly important” for the company because students heading to Australia are predicted to contribute US$19.2 billion to the nation’s economy in 2023. 

The agreement follows a recent Navitas report that indicated over 50% of Australian educational institutions would increase their spending on digital aggregators and recruitment. Additionally, almost 27% of respondents stated they will increase their agent commission spending in the upcoming year.

All of this happened at a critical juncture for Australian overseas education, following repeated requests for increased oversight of rogue operators in the industry.