Universities are now close to pre-pandemic international student enrolment levels, Universities New Zealand chief executive Chris Whelan says. Photo: 123RF
Foreign students paid $885 million in fees last year including nearly half-a-billion dollars to universities.
The annual reporting of Export Education Levy statistics showed foreign enrolments doubled in 2023 from a historic low in 2022 but only universities were close to their pre-pandemic levels.
Universities' fee income, $547m, was only a little below the sector's pre-pandemic figure of $580m in 2019 and came from 21,365 students compared to 28,150 students in 2019.
The overall total fee income for all education providers was below the pre-pandemic total of $1.2 billion but nearly double the $483m reported in 2022 when student numbers reached their lowest point as a result of pandemic-related border restrictions.
The annual statistics also indicated that universities' reliance on China as a source country had increased, and that schools had almost entirely recovered their enrolments from Japan but their enrolments from other countries still lagged.
Schools received $114m in foreign student fees last year, nearly double the 2022 total, but lower than the 2019 figure of $202m.
They had 14,125 students, which was about two-thirds their pre-pandemic total.
Secondary schools had more than 3000 students from Japan last year, about the same figure as before the pandemic, but their Chinese enrolments were less than half pre-pandemic totals at 2795.
Te Pūkenga's fee income more than doubled to $91m last year but that figure was just over half its 2019 total of $178m.
It had 8320 foreign students in 2023, nearly half of them from India.
English language schools had 9500 foreign students, less than a third of their 2019 total.
The figures showed most regions had fewer international students last year than in 2019.
However, Hawke's Bay, Gisborne, Taranaki, Manawatū and Whanganui had more, and there were also more foreign students studying extra-murally (4360 last year and 2800 in 2019).
Universities' enrolments close to recovery
Universities New Zealand chief executive Chris Whelan said universities were "very close" to returning to pre-pandemic international student enrolment levels.
"There's been a very pleasing return of students. The universities are very happy with what they're seeing. Our next big challenge now will be looking at how to spread that student recovery across a few more markets," he said.
"The country from which students have come back fastest has been China but like everything we would love to have more than one main market."
Whelan said one of the biggest challenges with new markets was visa and immigration settings related to students' finances.
It was sometimes hard for students from countries such as India to prove that they could support themselves financially, especially if their support came from multiple family members, he said.
Whelan said international students' fees directly contributed to universities' financial viability.
"It's important to remember that without international students the cost of teaching our domestic students would be about 15 percent higher," he said.