Founder of Australia’s Student Loan Scheme Proposes Extra Tax on Overseas Students

The father of Australia’s student loan program has floated the idea of imposing a levy on international students to fund university research and reduce immigration pressure.
During his speech at the National Press Club of Australia on Dec. 2, Bruce Chapman, an economist and a Australian National University professor known as the founder of the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS), shared his views on the state of the sector.
As part of a wider move to deal with the housing crisis, the Labor government implemented its National Planning Level (NPL) restricting the number of international students Australian universities can enroll to 270,000 for the 2025 calendar year.
The government said the cap would bring the number of international students back to the pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels after over 445,000 commenced study in 2024.
However, it has sparked fierce objections from education providers, who say the cap could affect their revenue and decimate the sector.
Amid the tension, Chapman said the government could impose a levy on international student fees to provide more funding for Australian universities.
At present, international students are charged significantly higher fees for courses compared to domestic ones.
While the economist acknowledged that a levy would cause tuition fees to go up even higher, he said it would reduce international enrolments without the need to cap the number of overseas students.
Chapman is not the only person who has come up with the idea of making overseas students pay more during their stay in Australia.
He argued that international students were not paying their fair share of the costs of providing the infrastructure and services that they use alongside other Australians.
Pointing to the over $600 billion (US$388 billion) of government spending on defence, education, health, social security, welfare, and other public services each year, the CEO said each Australian had to bear around $24,000 in infrastructure costs annually to accommodate a rapidly growing population.
Barrie noted international students were currently nowhere near contributing to these extra costs. The government currently requires students provide proof they have $29,710 on hand when applying for study in Australia.
“How is a student bringing in $29,000 to live on paying for their share of the infrastructure if it costs us $24,000?” he asked.
“The combined contribution of these [students] is woefully insufficient to cover the true costs associated with accommodating a huge growth in population, leading state coffers to bear the brunt of the burden.”
“It is an insult to the hardworking taxpayers in each state who are effectively shouldering the burden for the lifestyles of students and many economic migrants while their home quality of life crumbles.”