Australian Universities Adopt Indifferent Tuition Pricing Owing to Recent Policy Changes

Australia has introduced enrollment caps, Ministerial Direction 111, all to improve the educational standards and retain the quality of its education system. But these efforts are not without their drawbacks. MD 111, which prioritizes institutions that have not met 80% of their allotment for foreign enrollments, once the threshold attained, they return to standard processing. However, this law enforced in 2024 to promote sustainable growth and fairness among institutions and it has severely affected the sector, and a lot of the universities have had to alter their pricing to cover the deficit.

Enrollment fees for international students at the 40 Australian universities that Studymove examined increased by 5.2% between 2024 and 2025, up from just 3.5%in 2023. This brought the annual increase rate back to a level that was not observed since 2019. The general trend is supported by inflationary pressures and sector-wide unease with constantly shifting policies. Important underlying trends that determine which universities are both positively and adversely affected by a recent Australian immigration directive known as Ministerial Direction 111 (MD111) are responsible for the average 5.2% increase.

Universities with limitations on growth typically increase tuition costs for international students. Enrolment caps have reduced their revenue potential, so they must figure out how to make up the difference. Over the past year, they have seen an average 5.5% increase in international tuition fees. It's more likely that those with space to expand their enrollment abroad are trying to gain market share. They are not under as much pressure to raise tuition as the other group because they have more space to accommodate more international students. Over the previous year, they have seen an average increase in international tuition fees of 4.9%. The fee ranges from AUS$ 25,000 at the lower end to AUS$ 55,000at the upper end of the spectrum, with an average of AUS$ 39,805 charged.

Considering those extremes, the university that charged AUS$25,000 for international undergraduate students cut its fees by 17% in order to position itself as being about value for money. Not coincidentally, MD111 calculations place this university in the "potential to grow" category. In contrast, four universities have set their international undergraduate fees at or above$50,000 in 2025, which is an unprecedented move. As you may already be aware,MD111 places growth restrictions on those sizable universities. These two instances demonstrate the starkly divergent pricing debates occurring in Australian universities.  

It is evident that the disruption brought about by the introduction of new government regulations is making the already difficult choices Australian universities make regarding their pricing policies for overseas students even more difficult. All Australian universities are having to take these policies and the ambiguity surrounding them into account when it comes to pricing, but the educational institutions that Ministerial Direction 111 listed as needing to reduce new international enrollment are particularly affected.