This page contains data for the offshore delivery of Australian higher education courses in 2024.
On this page:
Many students around the world study Australian higher education courses without coming to Australia.
For an example, an Australian university may have campuses in one or more countries outside Australia or deliver courses through partnership arrangements with foreign institutions, or directly deliver courses online. The data sourced from the Australian Higher Education Statistics Collection is limited to students in courses recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework.
Overseas higher education enrolments
589,288
13% increased from 2019
12% increased from 2023
Offshore enrolments
107,437
18% of overseas students studying Australian higher education courses offshore
7% decrease from 2023
Onshore enrolments
481,851
18% increase from 2023
Course delivery to offshore students
47,498
Students studying at
offshore campuses
7% increase from 2023
47,996
Students studying in offshore partnerships and/or other programs
17% decrease from 2023
11,943
Students studying in
distance education
7% decrease from 2023
| Location | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singapore | 24672 | 23756 | 21605 | 21013 | 21475 | 22421 |
| China | 12906 | 18386 | 34604 | 34668 | 28810 | 18957 |
| Vietnam | 7368 | 9582 | 13065 | 15196 | 16884 | 17697 |
| Malaysia | 17860 | 17042 | 16055 | 14858 | 14714 | 16143 |
| UAE | 5125 | 4972 | 5582 | 5678 | 6093 | 6921 |
| Other | 17712 | 19160 | 32234 | 29682 | 27289 | 25298 |
Considerations for interpreting this data
- Overseas student data is published annually by the higher education student data collection reported by all higher education providers.
- The data include all HE institutions that have been approved under the Higher Education Support ACT 2003 (HESA).
- The top countries represent study locations but not necessarily the nationalities of those students. For example, about 22 per cent of students undertaking Australian university programs in Singapore were not permanent residents of Singapore.