Queensland’s international students will soon have to take on extra costs following the state governments decision to charge foreign students for their children’s school fees.
The move, seen as a bid to fill in budget holes by further cutting benefits to foreign students, will take away one of the most generous education scheme benefits for international students in the nation. The amendment means from next year, tuition fee exemptions in Queensland will only be available to the children of students studying for doctorates or on Aus-AID or defence scholarships.
Queensland’s Department of Education and Training has already implemented changes this year, which will exempt the children of students from countries whose governments sponsor the education and living costs of scholarship holders and their dependants. Assistant director-general Ian Hawke cited Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Libya, and the United Arab Emirates among the countries that will be affected by these changes.
Students can expect to face tuition fees ranging from $8,720 to $10,120 a year, on top of administrative fees of up to $210 a child, all payable in advance.
Students will have little or no notification of the changes, as the department has limited communications with the effected countries and no communication at all with individual students apart from posting up the new arrangements on the website.
