Respondents rated Australia as a safer place to study than any other country, including the US, Britain, Canada and New Zealand but rated quality of education slightly poor when compared to them.
According to the online survey of over 1600 foreign students from over 10 Australian universities says that 24 per cent of respondents were studying overseas in order to become permanent residents, which was five per cent more as compared to when the query was asked in a similar survey in 2005.
The results could heighten industry fears about the possible impact of recently announced changes to the skilled migration system.
Recently government overhauled the skilled migration system that has delinked permanent residency to foreign students with certain trade courses like hairdressing and cookery.
The new arrangements, which will give priority to skilled migrants who have a job lined up with an Australian employer, have been generally welcomed by universities, but private colleges, the fastest growing sector of Australia's USD 17 billion-a-year international education industry, have predicted catastrophe.
According to 'The Age' report, the quality of education was the factor most likely to be considered by students when choosing a country, but the issue of safety was increasingly important, with nearly two in three respondents saying they took safety into account when making their decision.
Respondents in the survey which was conducted in November and December last year by marketing agency JWT Education, rated Australia's quality of education slightly poorer than those of its main competitors, the United States and Britain.
Meanwhile, the federal opposition is pressing the government to reveal the balance of the fund that provides refunds to international students in the event of college collapses.
Liberal senator Mathias Cormann has suggested the fund may be "about to run dry" after a number of recent college closures.
Education Department officials did not disclose the balance of the fund when questioned by senators last week.