Australia Limits International Student Enrollments for 2025

The Government of Australia will set a National Planning Level (NPL) for new international students. The government announced that it would set a limit on the number of international student enrollments at 2,70,000 for 2025.

The NPL is divided between the higher education and vocational education and training (VET) sectors.

Students enrolled in school, those pursuing higher education through research, those pursuing stand-alone English language courses (ELICOS), non-award students, scholars sponsored by the Australian government, those participating in twinning or transnational education programs in Australia, holders of important partner foreign government scholarships, and students from the Pacific and Timor-Leste are not eligible for the NPL.

It further stated that plans for 2026 and beyond will result in a steady increase in the number of international students, ensuring the sector’s viability for years to come.

The planned expansion strategy is anticipated to bring in about 1,45,000 more international students by 2025 for publicly supported colleges, keeping enrollment levels close to those of 2023.

The government has stated that this aims to assist colleges that have been disproportionately impacted by the epidemic and irregular student return trends.

An International Student Profile (ISP) will specify each student’s specific restrictions. Universities receiving public funding have received their indicative ISPs.

Several elements have been considered in the development of ISPs employing university data. Included in this are current statistics on the number of new international students enrolled and the percentage of international students enrolled relative to their onshore student populations.

In order to accommodate the increasing number of both domestic and foreign students, the Albanese government will begin to encourage the construction of new student housing by institutions in 2026. It is anticipated that there would be about 30,000 new international student commencements overall in 2025 for other institutions and non-university higher education providers.

In accordance with the planned growth strategy of the Albanese government, 95,000 new international VET student commencements are projected by 2025. In an effort to promote a more varied student body, providers that enroll a larger percentage of overseas students will be given less allocations.

By providing more options for training alongside Australian students, these reforms seek to ensure sustained growth by strengthening sector integrity and enhancing the experience of international students.

Pending legislative approval, from January 1, 2025, this new system of managed growth and enhanced integrity measures will replace Ministerial Direction 107.

Saying that it is determined to strengthen the integrity of the sector and ensure it maintains its social licence, the government added that this move to limit the number of international students would bring the number of new international student commencements, across higher education and VET, back to pre-pandemic levels.

The Albanese Government is strengthening the integrity and sustainability of the international education sector, a statement on theministers.education.gov.au said.