Study abroad halves among disadvantaged students

Study abroad by Australian students has rebounded almost to pre-pandemic levels, replicating a decade of pre-Covid growth in just four years, but participation by disadvantaged students has been decimated.

Data from Australian universities reveal a patchwork recovery in overseas study. More than 43,000 students did some offshore learning in 2024, up from barely 5,000 in 2020 and approaching the 2019 peak of 58,000.

One in five Indigenous students, and more disabled students than ever before, tasted the “transformative” experience of study abroad last year.

But the recovery has bypassed other underrepresented groups. Since 2019, overseas learning has crashed by 52 per cent among students whose family members have never attended university, and 56 per cent among those from low socio-economic status (low-SES) backgrounds.

The federal government allocated half as much towards study abroad last year as it had in 2019. Students eschewed the loan scheme for overseas study, OS-HELP, amid high interest rates and a cost-of-living crisis. Support from universities crashed by 44 per cent and was largely concentrated in a handful of institutions.

The figures come from a benchmarking study of 21 universities, commissioned by the Australian Universities International Directors’ Forum (AUIDF). Researcher Keri Ramirez said administrators faced a “critical” task in regenerating support for study abroad.

“We know it has been quite challenging for universities,” Ramirez told a webinar organised by the Australian International Education Association. “Let’s face it, it’s been a pretty complicated couple of years.”

Kent Anderson, interim executive director of the Australian Technology Network of Universities, said disadvantaged students had the most to gain from overseas study. While research showed that it improved academic outcomes, increased retention and accelerated graduation, the impacts were most pronounced for “at risk” students.

“If [university administrators] want more students to graduate on time, and they’re particularly concerned about equity, the answer is simple,” Anderson told the webinar. “The evidence is absolutely clear – learning abroad does it.”

The webinar heard that low-SES participation was likely to decline further because of changes to the New Colombo Plan (NCP). Scholarship recipients must now undertake at least four weeks of overseas study, double the previous minimum.

The benchmarking study found that 64 per cent of study abroad students in 2024 had gone overseas for less than four weeks. Linda Rust, manager of global learning at the University of Melbourne, said she expected a “huge drop” in the number of participants – disadvantaged participants in particular – when the NCP changes took full effect in 2026.

“From a university perspective, one thing that can be done is [to] swing any funding…towards these experiences that aren’t being funded by the NCP,” Rust told the webinar. While universities had tended to prioritise funding for students going overseas for full semesters, the NCP changes meant those who favoured “shorter-term experiences” – typically, students from poorer backgrounds – were now most in need.

The analysis found that students’ appetite for study in South-east Asia, a priority region for the federal government, was declining. And just two universities had used foreign branch campuses to facilitate overseas learning experiences for their Australian students.

Anderson said branch campuses had the potential to support study abroad at “scale” and had been hyped as venues for two-way exchange. “We’re talking a good game but it’s not coming through in the data,” he said. “We’re underusing those campuses as outbound destinations.”