The?re-elected federal government in Australia has been urged to treat international students with more compassion amid warnings that the country risks ¡°losing the trust of a generation¡±, and signs?that visa changes are pushing institutions out of business.

International students¡¯ satisfaction with Australia has plunged, according to an analysis of social media traffic, as constant rule changes and visa fee hikes?have prompted feelings of ¡°sadness, fear and disgust¡±.

Meanwhile the Language Academy, which had capacity for 1,500 students at its Gold Coast and Sydney campuses, has become the latest institution to after last year¡¯s imposition of a A$1,600 (?778) visa fee ¨C which the government intends to raise to A$2,000 in July.

The 11-year-old college ceased operating on 1 May, five months after the closure of International House, a longstanding English language and vocational training institution registered for about 10,000 overseas students.

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English Australia chief executive Ian Aird said several other colleges had shut their language training divisions amid plunging enrolments. ¡°Students might tolerate a A$1,600 visa fee if they¡¯re investing over a hundred grand for a degree from a major university. But if they¡¯re paying A$5,000 for a 15-week English course, A$1,600 is a ridiculous amount to spend on a visa application ¨C particularly when it stands a good chance of being rejected.¡±

The grant rate for stand-alone English study visas lodged from the key market of Colombia is 58 per cent this financial year, according to the latest Department of Home Affairs data. Applications from Thailand and China, two other prominent source countries, elicit grant rates of 53 per cent and 35 per cent respectively ¨C compared with 96 per cent for higher education visas.

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Monthly offshore visa applications for stand-alone English language study have crashed to about half of their 2024 levels and one-quarter of 2023 levels.

Aird warned that job losses from the English language sector, which he estimated at?more than 5,500 to date, would affect the supply and diversity of overseas higher education students. International enrolments at ¡°major¡± universities would become even more skewed to China, with other nationalities generally less able to afford the visa fee and more likely to be rejected, and fewer foreign students would refine their English in Australia before starting undergraduate courses. ?

Evidence suggests that people who study English in Australia before embarking on degrees achieve better pass and retention rates than those who learn the language exclusively in their home countries, Aird said. They also notch higher well-being scores, having built friendships with other students while learning English intensively on campus with social programmes and student support.

The government has agreed to discuss language students¡¯ visa fees after the election, according to the International Education Association of Australia. Representative groups have also pushed the government to update ministerial direction 111 (MD111), which deprioritises visa processing for students enrolled at institutions whose overseas commencements have reached institutional thresholds.

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The thresholds equate to 80 per cent of last year¡¯s proposed institutional caps. The government has not signalled any change to these quotas, fuelling concerns that colleges will not be allowed to increase their international admissions next year.

Universities Australia said its members needed ¡°clarity¡± around the government¡¯s plan for international recruitment beyond MD111. ¡°This is a stopgap measure at best,¡± said?chief executive?Luke Sheehy. ¡°Our sector needs certainty and stability.¡±

An analysis of social media traffic by international education advisory company Voyage found that students were waiting between 16 and 18 weeks for visas under MD111, jeopardising their ability to start courses in semester two. They believed visa processing for 2026 had been ¡°paused¡± pending finalisation of next year¡¯s thresholds.

The analysis found that students were increasingly downcast about their prospects in Australia, with 44 per cent of communications in March expressing negative sentiments while?only 2 per cent were upbeat.

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Voyage¡¯s Varsha Balakrishnan said overseas students wanted clarity and consistency, not special treatment. She said students¡¯ families were ¡°watching closely¡± to gauge whether their ¡°sacrifices¡± in bankrolling expensive overseas degrees would ¡°lead to the futures they were promised¡±.

¡°We risk losing the trust of a generation,¡± Balakrishnan warned. ¡°This is a moment to rebuild confidence and demonstrate that Australia is still committed to international education, not just as an export but as a human investment.¡±

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john.ross@timeshighereducation.com