ANU says it will no longer increase student enrolments due to concerns about dropping quality.

After several years of rapid growth in international enrolments, Australian National University (ANU) vice chancellor Brian Schmidt says the university has reached a size “which I think is appropriate”.

“The university is at a size of roughly 20,000 full-time students and so we're not intending to grow, both international or domestic.

“If we get any bigger, we will not be better,” he said.

In recent years, the rise in international student numbers at ANU has doubled the increase in domestic students.

International university student commencements have grown from 187,000 in 2013 to 319,000 in 2018 across the country.

ANU’s decision follows a call for a national cap from Labor's employment spokesperson Brendan O'Connor.

“What's happened is we've seen a 200,000 increase in applications since the election of this Government federally," Mr O’Conner recently told Sky News.

“And therefore I think we need to see whether we could either cap the scheme or make sure it's being used properly for the purpose it was intended.”

Other major universities have given mixed responses when asked whether they would make similar moves.