The era of the “big four” international education destinations has passed, with at least a dozen rival nations jostling for primacy.

Stephanie Smith, Shanghai-based trade commissioner with Austrade, said Chinese students heading overseas before the coronavirus pandemic mainly chose from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia or Canada. That has changed since COVID. “The agents talk about the ‘big 14,’” Smith told the Australian International Education Conference. “It puts us in a lot more of a competitive environment.”

She said affordability issues are driving Chinese students to look at alternative destinations, as a global cost-of-living crisis coincided with a domestic economic slump. Options closer to home also offered linguistic familiarity, geographical proximity and—argu

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