According to this report Australian students are dropping out of university degrees in record numbers and Australia’s universities have been allowed to transform into little more than degree factories for international students. 

The report cites the most recently published data from the Department of Education, which recorded 341,049 students commencing bachelor’s degrees at Australian universities in 2017.

Key findings

• Among all students who commenced a bachelor’s degree in 2017, 24 per cent had dropped out by 2022, 66 per cent had completed their degrees, and the remaining 10 per cent were still studying.
• Among students who commenced a bachelor’s degree in 2017, 25 per cent of domestic students dropped out by 2022, while 62 per cent completed their degree.
• 19 per cent of overseas students dropped out of their studies and 79 per cent completed their degree.
• The domestic dropout rate for students who commenced in 2017 was the second highest on record: only students who commenced in 2014 dropped out at a higher rate (25.5 per cent), but the completion rate for 2017 students was 0.7 percentage points lower than 2014 students.
• Australia’s universities have prioritised the lucrative overseas student market
• Between 2000 and 2022, the number of overseas students in Australian universities increased from approximately 95,000 to just under 450,000.
• As a proportion of the overall university student cohort, overseas students increased from 14 per cent in 2000 to 29 per cent in 2022.
• Since 2000, the number of enrolments of international students has increased by 370 per cent, compared with an increase of 84 per cent for domestic students.
• A large and growing cohort of domestic students are dropping out of their degrees before completion, which means they are incurring a financial cost through HELP debt without securing their qualification.