A number of Australian universities are waiving English requirements to attract more international students, according to ABC's Four Corners.
On Monday, Four Corners alleged some institutions were admitting students from overseas who were below their individual published English standards or who are being "granted entry through other means without taking an independent English test".
Four Corners said, "a single university can earn hundreds of millions of dollars in fees from international students".
The current affairs program obtained emails from several universities "advertising 'English waivers' to the agents who recruit international students".
A UTAS building. Source: Twitter
One email from a staff member at the University of Tasmania read: "As a part of our last mile efforts to encourage acceptances for July 2018, the university will be waiving the English condition in order to assist the students who are yet to meet their English conditions."
In the wake of the allegations, the University of Tasmania said it will review international admission practises.
But UTAS Vice Chancellor Professor Rufus Black on Monday denied the university treated students as "cash cows".
"We want to be a university that is focused on high-quality education for qualified international students," he said in a statement.
"We care intrinsically about our international students. They are not cash cows as they have been described by the program; they are people who come to our university to learn.
"They are an important part of our community."
Prof Black announced an independent external review would undertake a "broad, deep health check" of the university's admission practises.
University students in Sydney. Source: Getty
"We also have made it very clear within our new institutional strategy that we are taking a right-sized approach and that the march for constant growth is not part of our future," he said.
A group of senior university staff will overseas UTAS admissions until the review's recommendations are introduced.
While Four Corners obtained another email relating to Southern Cross University which said, "We are happy to inform you that SCU is now providing IELTS waiver for their Lismore and Gold Coast campuses".
The university responded to Four Corners by saying that questions about English waivers "refers to sector policy and is probably best addressed to either Universities Australia or the Regional Universities Network".
