International enrolments at MU aren’t as bad as expected but even so they are not good

VC S Bruce Dowton briefed staff late Friday on first semester numbers, which are better than budget. Where the university expected to be down 30 per cent on 2020 total international enrolments are just 6 per cent lower than last year.

But hold the huzzahs! Session One this year is 13 per cent down on last, “taking the total shortfall compared with Session 1 2019 to 21%.”

There’s good news on domestic enrolments, with Session One this year 9 per cent up on 2019.

However no fireworks  should be ignited, the university is over its cap for Commonwealth Supported Places, which means all it gets is the student contribution and not the government share.

And what with uncertainty about how many international students will come from where, if they are ever allowed, the $38m savings target for 2022 stands.

Good, or rather bad, to know how ordinary everything is – but why did it have to happen on Friday?

Cynics suggest it coincided with the final savings plans for the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, the Faculty of Science and Engineering and the Business School. But what can you expect from cynics?