1) Global Rankings of Australian Universities 2025  by Alan Olsen is the March 2025 analysis from Times Higher Education World University Rankings. 90% of students in Australian universities are at universities in the world’s top 500. Australia’s 90% outperforms 44% in UK and 23% in US. The finding that does not beat about the bush is that 26% of students in Australian universities are at universities in the world’s top 100, 26% of students in UK universities are at universities in the world’s top 200 and 23% of students in US universities are at universities in the world’s top 500.

2) International Student Revenue 2023 by Alan Olsen is the March 2025 paper on the finances of Australian universities in 2023. 25.4% of Australian university revenue in 2023 was from international student fees. This release covers the boom year 2023, ahead of the impact of the 2024 perfect storm.

3) Education as an Export for Australia by Alan Olsen is the January 2025 paper on the value of education as an export for Australia. Education in financial year 2023/24 was Australia’s fourth largest export behind Coal, Iron Ore and Natural Gas, more valuable than Gold. Education remains the only top export that captures Australia as more than a quarry with a view.

The value of education as an export for Australia in 2023/24 was $51 billion. But in its reporting on Australia’s Balance of Payments and International Investment Position for the September quarter 2024, the Australian Bureau of Statistics already has pointed to a third perfect storm: Exports of services fell, down 3%, led by education-related Travel services. This was driven by a fall in the number of students arriving to start semester two.

4) International Students: Bachelors & Doctors is the January 2025 paper on levels and fields of study of international students in Australian universities in 2023.

In total 31.1% of students at all levels of education in 2023 were international. 39.7% of postgraduate research students were international.

In total 31.1% of students in all fields of education in 2023 were international. 60% of students in IT were international, 54% of students in Business were international and 39% of students in Engineering were international.

5) The Gender Agenda by Alan Olsen is the December 2024 paper on the extent to which gender is a key factor in outcomes of higher education in Australia. 61% of Australian Bachelor degree graduates each year are women, 56% of Australian PhD and Masters by Research graduates are women. 47.1% of 25 to 34 year olds in Australia have at least a Bachelor degree in 2023, because 53.7% of young women are graduates and 40.7% of young men are graduates.

6) International Students in US: Open Doors 2024 by Alan Olsen is the December 2024 paper following the release of Fast Facts from Open Doors 2024. Incoming to US in 2023/24, the number of international student enrolments grew 7% from the previous academic year to the new record high number 1,126,690. India is the top-sending country, ahead of China. India and China together made up over half of all international students in the United States. Outgoing from US in 2022/23, numbers equivalent to 9.3% of completing U.S. domestic undergraduates pursuing bachelor degrees undertook study abroad in 2022/23, still down from 16.1% in pre-pandemic2018/19.

7) International Students 2023 by Alan Olsen is the November 2024 paper on numbers of international students in Australian universities. In the boom year 2023, there were 453,796 international students, onshore and offshore, in universities in Australia, up 15.2% from 393,988 in 2022, and back up to the pre-pandemic 453,833 in 2019. These international students in 2023 made up 31.0% of the students in Australian universities, from 27.4% a year earlier and back up to the figure 30.6% in pre-pandemic 2019. Included in the growth of 15.2% in the number of international students is growth of 35.7% in the number of commencing international students, from 162,588 in 2022 to 220,638 in 2023.

8) International Students: Academic Performance by Alan Olsen is the November 2024 paper on success rates of international students in Australian universities. In 2023, for the first time since 2007, international students commencing bachelor degrees underperformed their domestic colleagues. 306,749 students commenced bachelor degrees in 42 Australian universities in 2023. 73% were domestic students, 27% were international students. The 222,918 domestic students passed 86.2% of what they attempted, and outperformed the 83,831 international students, who passed 84.2%. At the other end of the higher education spectrum, 43% of higher degree research completions In Australian universities in 2023 were by international students.

9) Soft marking first refuge of the ill-informed is Alan Olsen’s opinion piece for The Australian newspaper on 23 March 2011 arguing against the notion of soft marking and pointing out that, despite decibels of dog whistles, there remains a lack of evidence that international students in Australian universities drag standards down.