Record visa rejections hit Australian higher education

Foreigners seeking Australian degrees are being denied visas at record rates amid ongoing government scepticism about students’ genuine study intentions.

Almost one-third of visa applications lodged overseas for higher education study were rejected in February, according to the latest available Department of Home Affairs data.

The approved share of 67.6 per cent constituted the lowest monthly grant rate in at least 21 years. The previous low of 68.1 per cent was set in September 2023, during an unprecedented surge in student visa applications following the post-Covid reopening of Australia’s borders.

The figures suggest that the soaring rejection rates afflicting language and vocational colleges are now gravitating to many higher education institutions, especially those that recruit heavily from the Indian subcontinent.

In February, Australian officials refused about 36 per cent of higher education visa applications they processed from Bhutan, 38 per cent from Sri Lanka, 40 per cent from India, 51 per cent from Bangladesh and 65 per cent from Nepal.

The visa caseload is switching towards these countries and away from China, which normally attracts extremely high visa approval rates. The number of higher education visa applications lodged from China in February was the lowest in 12 years and 39 per cent less than in February 2025. Meanwhile, lodgements from India, Bangladesh and Nepal were up by 36 per cent, 51 per cent and 91 per cent, respectively, compared with the previous February’s figures.

If visa rejections persist at the latest levels, many universities will struggle to achieve favourable immigration risk ratings. Visa rejection rates constitute 10 per cent of the “evidence level” calculations that determine these ratings.

Although the ratings are not published, they affect institutional reputations. Agents are less inclined to refer students to institutions deemed medium or high risk, while immigration officials apply extra scrutiny, and students from certain key countries must supply extra paperwork in their visa applications.

The most recent tweak to institutional risk ratings affected just two public universities, with one promoted to low risk and one demoted to medium risk. However, many private colleges remain saddled with moderate or high risk ratings.

The International Education Association of Australia has called for a “blanket moratorium” on changes to risk ratings when the evidence levels are next assessed in September, because of the “massive increase” in visa rejections.

CEO Phil Honeywood said the commissioners heading the forthcoming Australian Tertiary Education Commission (Atec) should be required to have collective expertise in both international education and “independent higher education providers”, now that legislation to formally establish the sector steward has been amended to allow for two additional commissioners.

Honeywood said Atec would assume responsibility for international student quotas at more than 130 independent higher education providers and at a few dozen universities. “It’s important that we have somebody sitting around the table who ensures that the methodology is…equitable,” he said.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com