Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States – the traditional “Anglo” destinations – have together held a relative monopoly on international students from the Asia-Pacific region, and China in particular, looking to study abroad.
Recently, however, there has been a rise in interest in intra-regional mobility. The internationalisation of universities and ranking systems has driven the performance improvement of many institutions across the Asia-Pacific that recognise the importance of international students and partnerships for the development of world class universities.
In May 2023, Japan reported a 20.8 per cent increase in international students on the previous year. Most of this increase was in university pathways colleges and Japanese language institutes. China is by far the largest source country of Japan’s international students.
In the current economic context, it is not always obvious that an expensive degree in an English-speaking country will provide the benefit that perhaps it used to.
The number of international students at South Korean universities has more than doubled in the last decade. The government in Seoul has set a target of attracting 300,000 international students to the country by 2027. It is well on the way, with 236,000 students enrolling in 2023.
Chinese students are largely driving the surge in international students choosing universities across the Asia-Pacific region.
Malaysia has seen a massive spike in international students in higher education and schools this year. China now contributes 37 per cent of Malaysia’s inbound student body. More than 47,000 university students from China are studying in Malaysia as of September this year – a five-fold increase in five years.
In the Philippines, a recent report from the Bureau of Immigration found 16,200 student visas were granted to Chinese nationals in 2023, a number which the media is reporting as an “influx” of Chinese students and which is causing some level of national security concern.
There are multiple phenomena converging to accelerate intra-Asian international student mobility. Increasingly restrictive and confusing policy signals for students in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States are one part of this story. Public debates in these traditional destination countries portray a less welcoming environment for international students, who are often blamed as the cause of housing shortages and cost-of-living crises. Geopolitical tensions, perceptions of anti-Chinese sentiment or racism lingering post-pandemic, and the fallout from China’s economic coercion tactics may also be contributing factors.
China’s youth unemployment rate also continues to be at record highs. Getting a solid, well-paying job on graduation from a top university is no longer a given. The return-on-investment conversation looms large for students and their parents, and in the current economic context, it is not always obvious that an expensive degree in an English-speaking country will provide the benefit that perhaps it used to.
Despite some recent attempts by the Chinese government to revive the economy, consumers are still saving, rather than spending. The Chinese “Bank of Mum and Dad” is more hesitant to spend big on big ticket items at the moment. And the traditional Western destinations, with high cost-of-living and inflation, are seen as out-of-reach for some.
There has been a general decline in English proficiency across the Asian region.
It is not necessarily the case that students destined for the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States or Australia are now changing their minds and heading to South Korea, Japan or Malaysia – although this is certainly possible. It is also possible that the availability and promotion of international education opportunities closer to home appeals to new cohorts of students, who may not have considered it previously. This group may be driven by a desire to spend time outside China’s tight labour market, while remaining within the region.
Meanwhile, China’s own English language proficiency is declining and is now defined as a “low proficiency nation”, falling sharply in the EF English Proficiency Index this year by 9 places to 91st. This marked an even steeper decline than in 2023, when China dropped 20 spots. In 2021, China was categorised as having “moderate proficiency”, ranked 49th. There has been a general decline in English proficiency across the Asian region, which declined more than any other region in the world compared to last year.
Australia and other English-speaking nations are currently reflecting in their national debate on their international education sector – the role it plays, and the opportunities and risks that accompany its success. At the same time, it is possible that the world is in fact becoming more diverse, and less “colonialist” in its international education destination landscape.
It is wise for Australia to be paying attention to this shifting dynamic, lest we wake from our current policy struggles and obsessions with the experiences of the Anglosphere to find a different global international education sector which has carried on just fine without us.
