AUS-UNIVERSITY 3LST

The report said for the period of July to October last
year, constant media coverage on Indian students crisis lead
to drop in visa applications to 23 per cent below the figure
for the same period a year earlier.
Applications from India fell 46 per cent and those from
Nepal, Australia's fastest-growing market, plummeted by a
staggering 85 per cent.
Russell Mahoney, a spokesman for Gillard, said the
Department of Education could not immediately find a record of
meetings or correspondence with Universities Australia two
years ago.
Mahoney and Simon Dowding, a spokesman for Evans, said
the Rudd Government regularly consulted with Universities
Australia, and that federal and state education ministers last
year said they would improve the experience of international
students by fixing a range of problems including students'
support services and immigration.
While international enrolments from India have reportedly
dropped following stricter immigration rules and also safety
concerns, it was reported that more private colleges were
expected to close as demand dries up.
The report said the sliding demand was hitting
universities hard as Australian universities relied on
overseas student fees for an average of 15 per cent of their
revenue.
At La Trobe University new applications from Indian
students for the first semester this year were half of last
year's, the report said. PTI