With some exceptions, leading Group of Eight universities have largely left setting up offshore operations to their smaller peers, content with the steady stream of international students coming to them. But against a backdrop of tightening controls over student visas that has wrought chaos on the sector, and eager support from India’s and Australia’s governments, vice chancellors are exuberant about the opportunity to expand.
This long-form article published in The Australian Financial Review, weaved around the launch of UNSW’s Bengaluru campus, provides useful insights on foreign university campuses in India.
Dr. Rahul Choudaha is quoted from the research report on international university campuses in India:
The flood of foreign institutions has created a new financial tier in Indian education. A study by higher education expert Rahul Choudaha mapped the 13 foreign universities admitting students in 2026-27 and found the fees were more than double those at the top private local universities and about a third of the cost of studying abroad.
Additional insights and quotes from the AFR article:
“UNSW says 60 students have enrolled in the first cohort, spread between three bachelor’s courses in business, computer science and data science, and a master’s in cybersecurity.” UNSW vice chancellor Attila Brungs says, “I refuse to call it a branch campus, I told the academic board you’re never allowed to call it a branch campus, it’s just one of our campuses.”
“UNSW “has a 51 per cent stake in the Bengaluru campus, a joint venture with Indian edtech company Emeritus. According to the university’s 2025 annual report, UNSW will make an initial contribution of about $400,000 towards the project this year.”
“The University of Western Australia has taken the bold step to go it alone, and will entirely self-fund establishing the two campuses with an initial investment of $62 million, according to vice chancellor Amit Chakma. UWA India”
“Undoubtedly, the history of offshore delivery by Australian universities has involved a number of shipwrecks. We can only hope that our universities have done comprehensive research on the right locations, the right courses, and the right price point in what is now a very competitive market,” says Phil Honeywood, chief executive of the International Education Association of Australia (IEAA)