Cost is forcing students and parents to consider appropriate alternatives closer to home

The latest Navitas Agent Perception Survey 2026 shows that notwithstanding policy volatility and visa uncertainty, student decision-making continues to be driven by cost and access to Post Study Work Rights (PSWR).

Students are also evaluating the ability to work during study and longer-term migration pathways. Indicators of quality including institutional rankings also feature as important factors influencing choice.

Cost is king — everywhere

There are some variations in the top destination choice factors from region to region, but cost remains paramount. Across Greater China/North Asia, South Asia, South East Asia and Africa, cost is the most important factor.\Access to PSWR is consistently the second most important factor for South Asia, South East Asia and Africa, but education agents in Greater China/North Asia cite safety and security as the second most important concern.

Consistent with reported visa refusal rates globally, agents from South Asia and Africa nominate visa access and processing as a top five factor.

As highlighted in previous reports, migration opportunities remain a top five factor for many regions including Greater China/North Asia.

Who’s actually winning on value?

While it is useful to understand which destination choice factors are important, it is also valuable to examine which countries are perceived to be doing the best on any given factor. Education agents were asked to then rate which countries are “most appealing” on each of these top choice factors, and three patterns are worth noting.

First, there is no one country with a clear advantage on cost. Australia, Canada, the UK and New Zealand all received a similar share of agent responses.

Second, Australia is strongest on access to PSWR, collecting more than half of the responses which rate it as most appealing.

Third, Australia is even more dominant on opportunities to work while studying with almost 70 per cent of respondents rating it as the most appealing. This likely reflects Australia’s macroeconomic conditions which include sustained low rates of unemployment, growing skills shortages, and rising wages.

Applying more widely, or not at all

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, with ongoing uncertainty around the status of border closures, there was an uptick in the number of students applying to more destination countries, and to more institutions within each destination. In 2026, a large proportion of education agents still agree that “Applicants are applying to more destination countries” (82 per cent) and “Applicants are applying to more institutions within each destination country” (85 per cent).

However, the issues of cost and affordability, alongside ongoing policy volatility, are having a meaningful impact on applicant behaviour.

For one, more than three quarters (77 per cent) of education agents agree that, “Applicants are applying to more destination countries outside of the US, UK, Australia, and Canada.”

Given the policy volatility and mounting cost pressures, agents report that applicants, “are more likely to have a back-up plan to study in their home ” and “are more likely to give up on their plans to study abroad due to lack of affordability” (72 per cent and 68 per cent respectively).