Study Abroad: ‘We will continue to attract students from India,’ says VC, University of Queensland

NEW DELHI: University of Queensland, Australia, has just announced “high-achievers scholarships” for Indian students. Its vice-chancellor, Deborah Terry spoke to Careers360 about the scholarship, Australia’s new visa regulations and why the ban on dual visas for international students was necessary. Edited excerpts below.

Q. Who will be considered for the high-achievers scholarship and why target only Indians?

A. The High Achievers Scholarship is open to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Students don’t need to apply for a scholarship when they apply to study a programme at UQ. They are automatically considered for this scholarship. If they meet the eligibility criteria and if they are successful, they are offered the scholarship, together with their letter of offer to study at UQ. It equates to a 20 percent tuition fee reduction. They need to apply for full-time study and must have satisfied our entry, rank and English language proficiency requirements, and they have not received any other scholarship from UQ, or any other scholarship from any other organisation. But if they have got a partial scholarship, we would also consider them.

To answer why we introduced this for Indian students, well, we have enjoyed strong academic links with India for more than 50 years and we are keen to offer this opportunity to attract high-performing students. We are looking to enable the free flow of knowledge, expertise, and innovation between our two nations.

Q. How many Indian students are at UQ?

A. It is more than 1,350 in the current semester.

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Q. What are the programmes that UQ has to offer for Indian students?

A. We offer a wide range of degree programmes both undergraduate and postgraduate, essentially across all disciplines. We were ranked Australia’s most comprehensive university in April of this year. The government of Queensland is investing heavily in a whole range of sectors like medicine, green energy and clean energy. Certainly, our research and our teaching are very much aligned with these priority areas. The Study Queensland talent programme works very much on developing students, and their employability skills and connecting them with both alumni and employers. So, that is in addition to our programmes. Our international students also have access to the Study Queensland Talent Programme.

Q. Which programmes do most Indians study at UQ?

A. The most popular programmes among Indian students enrolled at UQ in 2023 included doctoral studies in philosophy (PhD), postgraduate programmes in business, master of food science and technology, postgraduate programs in biotechnology, and a bachelor of engineering.

Q. Australia closed the dual-study loophole in its visa regulations. What happened and why was that necessary?

A. Yes, that is the recent announcement to restrict students who arrive in Australia on a visa that allows them to study at a higher education institution and then switch to another midway. That is a restriction that you can’t come into one part of the higher education system, say, university, and then switch immediately.

On 26 August 2023 the Australian Government announced a package of measures to support integrity in the international education system and to support genuine international students. The Government closed a loophole which allows education providers to shift international students who have been in Australia for less than six months from genuine study to an arrangement designed to facilitate access to work in the country.

There was a sharp change that was noticed – in the first half of 2023, 17,000 enrolments were created, compared to approximately 10,500 for the same period in 2019 and 2022 combined.

Investigations identified misuse of ‘concurrent enrollment’ as an integrity issue for the international sector and so this measure.

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Q. Do you think that the number of students will decrease because of this new policy?

A. No, I don’t think we expect the number of students to decrease. Our effort to encourage educational links with India will continue, and we will continue to attract students from India, support them, and welcome them as part of our community. Also, this will not affect the numbers coming to the University of Queensland, and we are very committed to continuing to do what we can.

Q. International students have faced difficulty in finding accommodation this year. Has that problem been resolved?

A. We are working very hard. Before this semester, we provided an accommodation guarantee for students coming to the university. We have got our accommodation. We have other accommodations on our main campus here, but we also work with other providers. We also have off-campus purpose-built student living providers. We plan to do that again for the first semester next year.