It's also worth highlighting that the universities here have become so reliant on that money that they were paying students up to AUD$7500 in some cases [1] to

It's also worth highlighting that the universities here have become so reliant on that money that they were paying students up to AUD$7500 in some cases [1] to not drop out of the academic semester, by either remote study or flying and staying in a third country for the 14 days to obey the technicalities of the travel ban from China. Had they dropped out before the census date, those students would've been eligible for refunds, and the universities would've been bled of funding they critically rely on. That the whole system has become so dependent on foreign funding that this sort of incentive became a financially prudent decision for the unis is terrifying from the point of view of independence [2] and ongoing security of the system. [1]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/26/australian-university-offers-up-to-7500-to-students-stranded-in-china-by-coronavirus-travel-ban https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/26/australian-uni... [2]: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/universities-rewrite-confucius-institute-contracts-amid-foreign-influence-scrutiny-20200310-p548my.html https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/universities-rewrite...