Harry Rosenthal, General Manager, Risk Management Services, Unimutual, discusses Australia’s international student cohort and strategies for monitoring their welfare.

Strategic planning is very much on the minds of university executives – a response to the newly-competitive environment in which higher education now operates. As Australian universities operationalise their strategic plans, it is clear that international student numbers play a large role for many institutions in their vision of a sustainable future. Nationally, they play a significant role as well, contributing $20 billion of revenue to the economy in 2016. A quick examination of Australian university international student totals shows that the sector now hosts over 1.23 million international students,[1] and on average, international students make up almost 25% of an institution’s total student body.

This emerging risk report examines the importance of international student attendance to the sustainability of the higher education sector – and provides some guidance for our university and college members to better fine-tune their strategic risk programs, particularly regarding international student enrolments.

[1] http://www.australianuniversities.com.au/directory/international-student-numbers/