Just over half of Australians believe universities have struck the right balance between foreign and domestic students.

But 46.1 per cent of respondents believe there should be fewer international students and more domestic students, data from an Australian National University poll published on Wednesday shows. Just 1.1 per cent of respondents said there should be more international students.

Andrew Norton, an honorary fellow at the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at Melbourne University, said the survey results captured "concern about the scale of international student enrolments and what implications that might have".

These include the quality of education students receive, overall population growth and political relations with China.