An American academic has raised concerns about Australian universities’ treatment of international students whom he said have received a “really low-class education” while their money is being used to fund “big-ticket research” and drive up the universities’ rankings. During the launch event for his new book at the Centre for Independent Studies, Associate Professor at the University of Sydney Salvatore Babones said there are “many abusive practices” in the recruitment and retention of international students. “When I say international students are themselves, victims, a lot of that is because they’re being offered a really low-class education,” Babones said on March 30. “Those resources are not being ploughed back into making sure you have a successful career at university.” In his book, “Australia’s Universities: Can they reform?” Babones argued that the massive revenue generated by the vast overseas student group is not used to offset infrastructure costs and thus reduce some of the …