THE number of Indian students coming to Australia to study has fallen dramatically in the past four years and the high dollar, stricter visa conditions and safety concerns are some of the reasons.

An Australian Council for Educational Research study found higher education visas for Indian students fell from 34,200 in 2007-08 to 9750 in 2011-12.

The high Australian dollar and strong competition from other countries had driven down the number of visas for Indian students, it says.

Safety concerns, the closure of some training providers and tough conditions for permanent residency contributed to the decline, it found.