Australia's wide-open space and plentiful nature, as well as its friendly people and relatively safe environment, has made it a very popular study abroad and working holiday destination. Australia is a multi-cultural environment and, due to its roots as an "immigrant nation," it is very welcoming of new immigrants and visitors. Australia also has strong links with Japan in areas such as business and tourism.

High Standards at National Universities

With the exception of two institutions, all of Australia's universities are national, public universities and all offer graduate programs. Since all of the institutions require government authorization, the overall standard is considered to be very high.

Good Technical and Vocational Colleges
TAFE: Programs that lead to Employment

TAFE (Technical and Further Education) Colleges are state-run institutions that provide programs designed to train students in skills that are highly-valued by Australian society, practical in nature, and lead to employment. TAFE can also be used as a stepping-stone to university or higher education.

World Class Research on Asia

As Australian government policy is very welcoming of immigration from Asia, Australian institutions have developed research programs in Politics, Economics, Geography, Ethnicity, Linguistics, Asian Studies, and other key areas that are considered to be world class. It should also be noted that the percentage of students who are studying Japanese (outside of Japan) is considered to be the highest in the world.

The Australian education system is twelve years in duration from primary to secondary, however there is some variation from state to state. 70% of the schools are public and, unlike the Japanese 6-3-3 system, it simply goes from Grades 1-12.

The vast majority of Australian universities are also public and overseas students have the opportunity to study in unique areas such as sports-related disciplines and physiology.
In order to have basic knowledge in certain majors, Australian studies include preparatory studies for students before entering university in those subject areas. Depending on area of interest, overseas students may be required to demonstrate similar preparation, as well as a sufficient level of English in order to be accepted into certain university programs. Foundation Courses are also offered to prepare overseas students for university programs.

Another option is study at the over 100 TAFE institutions in Australia. These institutions specialize in the teaching of very practical programs in areas such as aviation, health and welfare, travel and tourism, that lead directly to employment in those related industries. Institutions that accept overseas students must be registered with the Australian government and all have a standardized ELICOS curriculum for English language instruction.