Leading higher education experts have urged the federal government to urgently "red flag" the surging number of Nepalese international students coming to Australia, arguing poor families are being exploited by recruiters and employers.

Since 2017, Nepal has been Australia's third largest source of overseas students, well behind China and India but significantly ahead of larger, closer and more developed countries such as Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia.

"This should be a red flag for everybody": Sydney University associate professor Salvatore Barbones. Credit:Steven Siewert

In the 12 months to October there were 65,746 enrolments from Nepal in tertiary courses, according to the federal government, more than triple the 21,000 who enrolled in 2016. In 2018-19 the Nepalese international student market was worth $2.6 billion to Australia, up from $1.6 billion the previous year.

At the same time, the number of education agents - or recruiters - operating in Nepal has leapt from a few hundred to more than 3000, according to a federal education department spokesman.