CSU declined to comment on how many Chinese students were enrolled at the university or how many were affected by the coronavirus travel ban.

The Port Macquarie campus has the highest number of international students at CSU.

The Centre for Independent Studies has released a report today (February 19) which show analysis from the fallout from the epidemic could wipe as much as $12bn from the nation's export earnings and $6billion alone from the education sector.

The report's author, Salvatore Babones, said it was always "inherently risky to build a business around education exports" to a country with which "Australia has contentious international relations".

"The 2003 SARS and 2012 MERS epidemics should have reminded us all that even in the twenty-first century, relatively wealth countries with reasonably well-developed public health systems can still fall prey to epidemic disease," Mr Babones said.

Mr Babones wouldn't comment specifically on the impact of the coronavirus to regional universities like CSU.

"Unfortunately, Australian universities don't publish international student data and even though they report breakdowns by country to the Department of Education (DET), the DET refuse to make the numbers available to the public," he said.

CSU Vice-Chancellor Professor Andrew Vann said CSU was "supporting any students affected by the travel restrictions and ensuring our materials are being made available to study online in China".

Professor Van also said the university had suspended all staff and student travel to and via China and Hong Kong for the immediate future.

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