Universities losing foreign students

Universities struggle to hang on to international students despite the low dollar and are leaning on the new markets of India and Saudi Arabia to make up their numbers.

Auckland, Otago, Massey, Victoria and Auckland University of Technology (AUT) have reported an overall decline in international equivalent full-time students since last year, despite reports earlier this year touting high numbers of new enrolments.

Waikato University and Canterbury University's overall international student bodies increased - by 7 and 3.7 per cent respectively.

But Ministry of Education figures show numbers of international students across New Zealand universities as a whole dropped 34 per cent from 2004 to 2008 as more left than were enrolling.

The chairman of English New Zealand, Rob McKay, described the slump as a "fundamental problem".

International education is currently a $2.3 billion industry - it should be generating about half a billion more than that, said Mr McKay.

He said New Zealand was losing students because of immigration policies which made it difficult for them to find part-time work, unlike in Australia.

"We are missing out."

AUT, which attracts a high proportion of international students, has seen the number from China drop, but numbers from Southeast Asia, India and Saudi rabia have grown.

Pro vice-chancellor international Professor Des Graydon said that while new international enrolments were up around 25 per cent this year, the overall headcount of international students dropped 1 or 2 per cent, largely because of a slump in students from China that began three years ago but had taken a while to feed through the system.

Three years ago about two-thirds of AUT's international students were from China. That fell to 37 per cent in 2008, and is expected to sit closer to 33 per cent this year.

At AUT, where they make up about 18 per cent of the student body, international fee-payers contributed about 20 per cent of total revenue. AUT spends $300,000 on marketing itself overseas and its main efforts now are in India, China and Southeast Asia.