Final Report of the Supplementary Survey of ELICOS Student Spending (June 2006)

International students studying in Australia contribute significantly to Australia’s economy through payment of tuition fees and expenditure on goods and services over the period of their stay. In 2006 AEI commissioned the Supplementary Survey of ELICOS Students’ Spending in Australia to investigate and quantify the expenditure on goods and services, other than tuition fees, of international students enrolled in English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS). This survey addresses concerns about the adequacy of the sample evident in the ELICOS segment of the Survey of International Students’ Spending in Australia 2004 which had intended to study spending patterns of international students over all five educational sub-sectors (higher education, vocational education and training, secondary schools, ELICOS and foundation courses).

Together, these surveys provide a current measure of a significant component of the total export value of international education services to Australia.

Results from the two surveys will be used by AEI to provide more accurate estimates of the true value of export income from international education to the Australian economy.

AEI is working with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to have data from the survey incorporated into the education-related travel credits component of the National Accounts from September quarter 2006.  We expect that with the incorporation of this data, the estimate of education-related travel credits in the National Accounts will be revised upwards, bringing it more in line with DEST’s estimate of the total value of national income from international education services.