Lessons from the introduction of fees for overseas students

A tide of commercialism has swept across the Australian higher education system bringing with it many new products and services to test on local and overseas markets. A service industry already submerged in economic, employment, cultural and political changes in Australia, the higher education system is now under enormous pressure to meet new needs with a high level of resource inflexibility and declining Government funding. This article looks at one growth industry involving fee‐paying overseas students. It questions whether we should have entered this market in the first place and discusses some outcomes and lessons we may learn from them.