When Murdoch University set a target for a 60-40 split of domestic and international students, as part of its?, governing council members were sceptical. It was late 2022, and overseas enrolments had been trending down since a 2019?admissions scandal.

¡°One or two members of senate¡­vociferously said that we will never get to 40 per cent of international students,¡± said vice-chancellor Andrew Deeks. ¡°[They said,] you¡¯re being too ambitious. It turned out we weren¡¯t being ambitious enough.¡±

Murdoch¡¯s overseas proportion of equivalent full-time enrolments soared from 37 per cent in 2021 to 60 per cent in 2024, making it easily the ¡°most vulnerable¡± Western Australian university to ¡°changes in the market for international students¡±, according to a report from the?.

Deeks said the figures were overstated because they included students in Murdoch¡¯s offshore campuses at Singapore and Dubai, but foreigners nevertheless comprised 50 per cent of enrolments on home soil. ¡°The percentage of international students at Murdoch is high,¡± he conceded. ¡°It would be one of the highest in the country.¡±

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Forty-one per cent of Murdoch¡¯s 2024 revenue came from international students ¨C well over the 25 per cent benchmark for ¡°high risk¡±, according to the auditor general ¨C and on par with?Sydney¡¯s two biggest universities, which have around six times Murdoch¡¯s revenue and 10 times its surplus.

Financial reliance on international students is a sore point at Murdoch, which was excoriated in a 2019 ABC?Four Corners?broadcast?after?three staff members?went public with allegations that the university was shoring up its budgetary position by recruiting Indian students with inadequate English language capabilities.

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Education minister Jason Clare wants universities to dial back international student numbers, partly to relieve pressure on local infrastructure ¨C particularly housing ¨C and partly to prioritise the education of Australians. He??record domestic enrolments at both undergraduate and postgraduate level this year.

But Murdoch¡¯s experience suggests the trends are playing out differently at regional levels. The university¡¯s Australian enrolments fell by about 2,500 between 2021 and 2024.

Deeks said all Western Australian universities had struggled to attract domestic students because of the state¡¯s strong labour market. Murdoch had been particularly affected because of the ¡°negative publicity¡± from?Four Corners, while a University of Western Australia recruitment drive had waylaid ¡°students that previously would have come to us¡±.

Meanwhile, a 2023 influx of international students ¨C largely from?Bhutan?¨C had boosted Murdoch¡¯s international enrolments beyond expectations. Deeks said the Bhutanese government had developed a loan scheme to support study in Australia, and Murdoch was an obvious destination.

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¡°Perth has the biggest expatriate Bhutanese community anywhere in the world, [and] Murdoch has done right by its Bhutanese students,¡± he explained. ¡°They¡¯re committed to their studies. They come over and they do well.¡±

Former senate member Gerd Schr?der-Turk, one of the three?Four Corners?whistleblowers, said he had been driven to ¡°speak up¡± in 2019 because of ¡°serious ethical concerns¡± for the welfare of students Murdoch had recruited at the time. ¡°I hold no such concerns [about] our current practices,¡± he said. ¡°I gladly acknowledge improvements Murdoch University has made.¡±

But Schr?der-Turk, who opposed the 40 per cent international student target in Murdoch¡¯s strategy, said he held broader concerns about excessive international recruitment across the sector. He said rapid upsurges in foreign enrolments made it difficult for universities to uphold their educational standards?¨C?particularly if a few courses ended up being completely dominated by students from particular countries.?

Deeks said he expected a rebalancing of Murdoch¡¯s student profile, as international enrolments settled and domestic numbers rebounded. The university¡¯s admissions in enabling courses and postgraduate degrees are ¡°looking up¡±, he said.

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¡°We think we¡¯re turning the corner,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯re still working towards that 60-40 combination.¡±

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com