International enrolments increasing
The number of international undergraduate and postgraduate students at the University of Queensland has surged to a record high.
The University has met and will probably exceed its 1999 target of 3000 international enrolments.
The rise coincides with the University being listed as one of Asiaweek's top 20 universities in the Asia region and adds to its growing list of accolades, including being named as Australia's 1998-99 University of the Year.
In the Asiaweek review, UQ outperformed all other Queensland universities with an overall ranking of 19 out of 79 universities reviewed by the magazine.
"Our strong academic reputation and world class research will ensure that the University of Queensland continues to attract more international students, bringing major benefits to the Queensland and Australian economies," Vice-Chancellor Professor John Hay said.
The largest areas of growth from semester one, 1997 to semester one, 1999 have been India (up 146 percent), Singapore (up 39 percent), Taiwan (up 88 percent) and Indonesia (up 29 percent).
Asian students currently represent 65 percent of overseas students enrolled in undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the University of Queensland. Despite the economic downturn in Asia, UQ has experienced an 18 percent increase in the number of Asian students over the past two years (1997-99).
Director of International Education Chris Madden said the increased enrolments could be attributed largely to long-term University academic strategies paying dividends, and to the intervention of international aid agencies to assist international students encountering financial difficulties because of the Asian currency crisis. "Aid agencies such as AusAID, UNESCO and the World Bank are filling the vacuum with financial assistance," he said.
"We've diversified our markets to include the Middle East, western Europe and North and South America, and we are working closely with faculties and departments, the combination of which has resulted in strong growth in target markets."
Mr Madden said numbers had increased this year compared to semester one, 1998 for on campus students in Australia (up 33 percent on 1998), off campus students (up 126 percent) and Study Abroad Students (up 21 percent).
He said that Australia was perceived as having a high quality tertiary education sector, to be a safe and tolerant society, and had a very advantageous exchange rate compared with its major overseas competitors.
The University of Queensland had also put into place a large range of support mechanisms for international students which encouraged them to achieve their academic potential, and to graduate from Australia's most successful university in recent times in ensuring its graduates obtained jobs.
He said additionally, the University had been increasingly successful in targeting the academic elite from its traditional and emerging markets.
"Our reputation for attracting the best, and UQ's reputation for high quality research, is paying off," he said.
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