Study Abroad: Foreign Enrolment is More Than it Was Before COVID-19, But Diversity is Still Lacking

According to visa data, foreign students are returning to Aotearoa at a faster pace than they were before the pandemic, but polytechnics and schools are losing out. Immigration New Zealand approved 32,445 study visas for new students in the eight months spanning from the beginning of September last year to the end of April this year.

Despite long-standing intentions to diversify markets, Aotearoa may be growing more dependent on China for students, according to Immigration New Zealand’s visa statistics. As per the statistics, 21% of new study visas went to Chinese students, up from 17% in the same time prior to the epidemic, while 14% went to Indian students, down from 26%.

Six percent of new visas went to students from the Philippines and South Africa, percentages that were essentially unchanged from pre-pandemic levels. According to a recent assessment from Education New Zealand (ENZ), New Zealand ranked in the bottom three for the variety of its foreign student population out of 25 nations that accept international students.

According to the report, only nine countries account for 80% of Aotearoa’s international students, as opposed to 12 or 13 for Australia and Canada and more than 30 for several European countries. According to the research, with the total number of visa approvals more than doubling since 2019, India has emerged as the top source of international students in New Zealand’s main rival countries, the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, and Canada.

Chinese student study visa applications had decreased by 28% in the same set of nations, presumably as a result of travel restrictions into and out of China. Nigeria had surpassed Nepal as the third-largest supply nation for the UK, Canada, and Australia, respectively.

Number of Students with Study Visa in New Zealand

According to the ENZ data, there were 12,791 people with valid study visas in August of last year, and by March of this year, there were 33,438, or almost half as many as there were before the pandemic. According to the research, the direct economic contribution of overseas education decreased from $3.7 billion in 2019 to $800 million in 2018.

As per the report, university approval rates were up 4% from December to February compared to the same period before the epidemic, while permission rates for schools, polytechnics, and private postsecondary institutions were down 50%.

The fall of polytechnics was assumed to be caused by changes to residency and employment rights, while the loss of experienced foreign education faculty during the

Chris Whelan, CEO of Universities New Zealand, stated that while universities were pleased with the quantity of international students coming to New Zealand, they were “not so much” pleased with the diversity of the source nations.

According to him, institutions cannot diversify on their own and visa regulations must be changed to attract students from a wider range of nations. Due to current regulations, Whelan claimed that New Zealand was missing out on the robust growth that other nations were seeing from nations with big middle classes and a desire for international education, such as Nigeria and Nepal.

“So some of the things that they really want to see are aligning their financial evidentiary requirements – so the requirement for students to show they have the money to study here, make it a little more aligned to the countries we compete with, where sometimes students are coming from banking systems where they can’t meet the requirement,” said the group.

Study Visa Category

Whelan stated that he would also want to see the restoration of a study visa category that made it simpler for students to extend their visa to other courses after completing primary school or English-language training. “If you look at some of the rival locations, they are experiencing growth in other Asian countries. Also, they are keeping a careful eye on it to see if it could have an impact on New Zealand providers as Australia has seen growth in various Latin American nations.

Although there were more fresh enrollments than before the pandemic, Clark predicted that the overall number of international students would not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2030.

According to John van der Zwan, executive director of the Schools International Education Business Association, some schools are attempting to re-establish their international enrollments with wholly new employees.

The demand for New Zealand had also altered, as some parents were reluctant to send their children to a nation that had banned international travel for nearly a decade.

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