More international students than ever before are studying in Australia, easily surpassing half a million across universities, TAFE, English language schools and high schools.
The latest figures from the Australian Department of Education and Training show education exports brought in a record $21.8 billion in 2016.
That makes it the third-largest Australian export after iron ore and coal.
The growth stemmed largely from the increasing student numbers, which rose by 10 per cent last year, with most of the growth coming from China and India.
University of Melbourne senior economics lecturer Michael Coelli says he is not surprised the industry is going strong.
"There's this kind of huge, latent demand there from Asia of people looking to go to universities in other countries where English is the language and where job opportunities might arrive. It's hard to know whether it will last forever, but there's no signs of it slowing down."
Mr Coelli says the government's simplifying of the student-visa process, as well as opportunities for permanent settlement in Australia, are attractive to students in Asia.
But he says the Chinese government's recent investment in its own education system highlights why Australia's industry needs to look at the region more broadly.
"Part of the reason that many students come here is because opportunities in their home countries are somewhat limited. We are very reliant on particular source countries, like China in particular, but also India. If we can expand our potential source countries a little bit more, it might help going forward."
The number of international students coming to Australia has been growing steadily since the early 2000s, with the economic benefits flowing on to the broader community.
Education and Training Minister Simon Birmingham says in a statement that education is at the forefront of Australia's economic transition away from a mining-based economy.
"The benefits of international education flow through to sectors such as retail and tourism, supporting over 130,000 full-time jobs across our major cities and in key regional areas, where international education has established a strong foothold."
RMIT University senior lecturer Catherine Gomes, who focuses on international education, says recommendations from previous students are the biggest reason behind the growth.
The latest government report also includes data from a survey of 65,000 international students about their experiences.
The results show almost nine in 10 were satisfied or very satisfied with their overall experience in Australia.
Ms Gomes says it is important that that level of satisfaction is maintained.
"The fact that in, what, about eight, nine years' time, we want to increase the international student intake to almost a million, you need to actually keep up with student services. And by student services, it also means educating your academic and your professional staff on how to deal with international students."
She says many students are not aware of their rights under Australian law in the workplace or the housing market.
She says that makes them vulnerable to exploitation and universities need to do more to educate them.
"It's also a cultural thing, where international students from Asia, for example, come to Australia and they are told, 'Okay, if you do this, you don't do that, if you don't complain, then everything will go quite smoothly for you.' So it's trying to actually break that cycle, which is actually really, really quite difficult."
