Student market has potential

AS an industry, international education is Australia’s fourth largest export, contributing $37.6 billion to our national economy in 2018-19 and $5.3 billion to the Queensland economy.

It is interesting to note that of this contribution, roughly $15 billion was spent on fees and tuition and $20 billion on goods and services. The industry also supports 240,000 jobs nationally.

Beyond these impressive numbers, international education has far reaching benefits for all of us. It broadens perspectives, builds connections with diverse people and cultures, encouraging a spirit of innovation and the development of ideas that stretch across borders.

Australia continues to see growth in international student enrolments. In 2018, there was a total of 694,000 full-fee paying international students enrolled, an increase of 10.1 per cent on 2017. Queensland experienced slightly less growth (6.7 per cent from 2017 to 2018), with 107,000 students enrolled for the 2018 calendar year.

Our region’s natural beauty and lifestyle, which we all cherish and value, holds great appeal to the edutourism market, in which students combine short-term programs (measured in days and weeks) with a tourism experience. But these are not necessarily what will attract international students to enrol in higher education (degree) programs. That is the sector in which Cairns has the potential to grow.

International students studying for a higher education qualification make a large economic and social contribution to the region in which they reside - their fees are higher, they stay for longer, and they typically form deeper relationships with the communities than those students who visit for a brief edu-tourism experience.

I must emphasise that edu-tourism is critically important to Cairns and has an important place in our future. But, if we want our region to become a major destination for degree-seeking international students then we need to evolve - as a community and as an economy. Understanding international higher education is important, because it tells us about the type of environment that we need to create in Cairns if we want to be successful participants in this growing market.

The key for us to attract international degree students is to ensure we have the right programs, opportunities for them to gain valuable work experience, and exposure to innovative research and new ideas.

Cairns is competing with thousands of universities across the world to attract these students, whose primary goal is to achieve a quality education from a distinguished university, to earn a degree that will serve them wherever in the world they go.

For all universities, delivering an outstanding student experience is now at the top of every strategic agenda, but the experience at university is just part of the picture. We must look beyond the numbers, to the individuals – young people who might be focused on their degree, but also come here to learn about our way of life and our ways of working, experience new things, build lasting friendships, and contribute to our community.

Embracing international students outside the classroom might involve work placements and internships, linking up services and experiences that are on offer, and engaging these students in local community events.

Universities have a central role in all of this, especially in ensuring the quality of education on offer, but those broader, personal encounters require an essential community-wide contribution. We will all gain from this, just as the university years of our domestic students are enriched by their international classmates.

The smaller, human scale of our campuses and our close connections with our communities are potential advantages here. How we work together to welcome international students and embrace them as part of our community is going to be key to our region’s future success.

The potential benefits to our region are enormous. Students from overseas who choose to study here contribute to our economy as they live in our communities, and enrich our society as they contribute their cultural perspectives. Those who have positive experiences are more likely to recommend our region to others.

Importantly, all of our students will graduate into a world that is both global and local.

Wherever they choose to work they must be prepared to enter a changing labour market. International education provides opportunities and experiences for all students to engage confidently and comfortably with the diversity they encounter in class, on campus, and in the community. In other words, international education is everyone’s responsibility and if we are successful, it will benefit us all.

THE SMALLER, HUMAN SCALE OF OUR CAMPUSES AND OUR CLOSE CONNECTIONS WITH OUR COMMUNITIES ARE POTENTIAL ADVANTAGES HERE

David Craig is the JCU Cairns Campus director