Charles Sturt University has welcomed the government's proposed plan that would allow international students back into the country on a staggered two-week arrival process.
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The plan, announced by treasurer Dominic Perrottet on Thursday, would allow 250 international students into Sydney each fortnight on top of NSW's current weekly arrival cap of 3000.
Students would then undergo 14 days of government-supervised quarantine at student accommodation sites, with the plan to be reassessed after a two month trial.
Charles Sturt University has backed the government's proposal, after recording a student revenue decline of more than $50 million in 2020 thanks to international enrollments plummeting.
Vice-Chancellor Tom Burton said he was hopeful the Riverina's 60 international students would be able to return to campus under the proposal.
"For us, the opportunity here is very much about being able to help the students that have been stranded from their studies by the border closure to come back and continue." Mr Burton said.
"We would love to have all of our students who had been overseas back and ready to start as soon as possible and hopefully no later than semester one 2022."
Mr Burton said CSU would prioritise students whose studies call for in-person learning and assessment.
"Health students, high-end researchers, they're the ones who are most disrupted and who have to do the physical component," he said, adding they were the university's "absolute priority".
The proposal will be funded by a combination of student and university resources.
The state's financial contribution to the arrivals plan will be quarantine supervision staff and NSW Health staff.
How the 250 spots will be divided among universities has yet to be finalised, and the proposal is awaiting approval from the Federal Government.
International students contributed an estimated $14.6 billion to the state economy in 2019, with treasurer Dominic Perrottet highlighting their economic importance in a statement.
"International education is our second most valuable export and we need to do what we can to help students return and revive this sector as quickly as possible," Mr Perrottet said.
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