July 31, 2026 — 4:00pm
As footage of shiny new classrooms plays, the voiceover boasts of “world-class teachers”.
“An inclusive and vibrant community,” it continues, panning over students in a courtyard dancing. “And a global top-20 university education.”
The promotional video for the University of NSW’s new campus in Bengaluru, where orientation began on Friday, is slick. For UNSW and universities more broadly, transnational education is a big deal. Australia’s universities are heavily reliant on international student revenue – last year, they spent $5 billion at the state’s public universities, with the University of NSW and the University of Sydney taking $1.7 billion each in revenue. But the introduction of “soft caps” on international student numbers (the Albanese government failed to pass legislation and instead controls the flow of students via the visa system) means that education providers must look for new, unfettered, revenue streams.
Enter offshore campuses – an Australian education, delivered outside of Australia.
