Executive Summery
This project’s main concern is the affordability of houses for Australian international tertiary students. The survey seeks to establish how these students manage a safe stay and how they viewed the rent rates. It will seek to know if this affected their studies, and how they were coping with it.
The goal of the survey is to come up with a proposal to the government and tertiary colleges on how best they could approach the issue so that this industry remains relevant and as competitive as it always have been (Khawaja & Dempsey 2007, p. 19).
Introduction
Australia is one of the destinations in the world for those seeking higher education. Its infrastructure, political stability among other factors has made it so desirable to many international students that their population has become unbearable to the housing sector.
The limited accommodation is rented out at prices that are beyond their capability. This has seen these students struggle with the issue of accommodation at the expense of quality education, which was their aim when they came.
It is upon this basis that the researcher will conduct a research to establish the affordability of accommodation for international tertiary students in Australia (Babcan et al. 2010, p, 105).
Literature Review
A number of scholars have done research on this issue. There have also been many publications by government departments and other general articles and journals. Chen (1999, p.49) asserts that tertiary education brings with it many challenges to international students.
Affordable accommodation is one of these challenges that these students have to deal with (Rohrlich & Martin 1991, p. 178). Khawanja & Dempsey (2008, p. 66) argue that accommodation is an essential for some students who are in foreign land where finance may be an issue.
These students may risk financial complications if they do not budget properly, and if their budgets do not include the inflated prices of houses (Babacan et al. 2010, p. 18).
According to Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI 2007), students living around these colleges are in short of affordable accommodations. This fact makes them consider options like sharing of the little housing facilities, which lowers their abilities to conduct evening studies when in hostel (Smith 2009, p. 40).
This situation is worse in the large city campuses like Melbourne and Sydney (Khawanja and Dempsey 2008, p. 114). The demand for the houses is so high that the pricing has since doubled over the past few months, causing more pressure to these students (Fincher et al. 2009, p. 85).
This forces the students to look for cheaper accommodations from locations that are far from their campuses (Babacan et al. 2010, p. 64). The discrimination of international students in the private market makes things no better (McRae 2007, p. 102).
Some dubious property owner who wants quick gains also exploits these students (Smith 2009, p. 41). According to Paltridge, Mayson & Schapper (2010, p. 354), these challenges have forced a culture where 8- 20 students crowd in bedroom dwellings, jeopardizing their security.
Research Objectives
This research was motivated by one question that was to explore the experiences of international students seeking accommodation in Australia. The following are some of the objectives the survey intends to achieve:
The survey seeks to establish how international students are able to cope with increased living standards in Australia. The other objective is to know their experience with some of the unscrupulous property owners who wanted to exploit them.
Their security at such crowded residence was another concern the study would explore. Finally, the study would explore the relationship between issues Australian international students and their academic performance (Khawaja & Dempsey 2008, p. 37).
List of References
Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, 2007, Young people and housing, AHURI research and Policy Bulletin, vol.11, no.5, pp.1-20.
Babacan, H et al. 2010, The community safety of International Students in Melbourne: A scoping study, University of Melbourne Press, Melbourne.
Chen, CP 1999, Common stressors among international college students: Research and counseling implications, Journal of College Counseling, vol. 2, no.2, pp.49-65.
Fincher, RP & Carter, M 2009, Transnational and temporary: students, community and place making in central Melbourne, University of Melbourne Press, Melbourne.
Khawaja, G & Dempsey, J 2007, Psychological distress in international university students, Australian Journal of Guidance & Counseling, vol.17, no.1, pp.13-27.
Khawaja, G & Dempsey, J 2008, A Comparison of international and domestic tertiary students in Australia, Australian Journal of Guidance & Counseling, vol.18, no.1, pp.30-46.
McRae, C 2007, Report on issues affecting international students, Paper presented at 22nd NLC National Education Conference, Melbourne University, July 2007, Cambridge International College.
Paltridge, T, Mayso, S & Schapper, J 2011, The contribution of university accommodation to international student security, Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, vol.32, no.4, pp.353-364.
Rohrlich, BF & Martin, JN 1991, Host country and re-entry adjustment of student sojourners, International Journal of Intercultural Relations, vol. 15, no.2, pp.163-182.
Smith, S 2009 , International students’ security and safety needs in Australia, National Union of Students Report, Melbourne. Web.