A freeze on international student enrolments at Victorian public schools is being blamed on the state being a victim of its own success.
The education department has told public schools to stop taking international students because the enrolment cap of 5750 students risks being breached.
"We're really a product of our own success, we've got more international students at our government secondary schools than any jurisdiction in the country and we're really proud of that," Education Minister James Merlino told reporters on Wednesday.
"We have exceeded expectations, we've exceeded projections for this year, which means we can't take new enrolments for 2019."
Mr Merlino said it would not affect students already enrolled and he has asked for "urgent advice" on how to increase the limit.
"I want to see more international students," he said.
"It's a great thing for schools that participate in this program, both for the international students themselves, but also Victorian kids."
Schools which participate in the program receive enrolment fees directly from the international students, not via the department, but Mr Merlino said that was not a driver for schools taking part.
Opposition Leader Michael O'Brien accused the government of sending mixed messages.
"(Premier) Daniel Andrews in his stay over in China on the weekend was saying 'come to Australia, come to Victoria' and now he's saying 'oh but sorry, you can't actually send your kids to these schools'," Mr O'Brien told reporters.
Bendigo Senior Secondary College Principal Dale Pearce told AAP the department emailed schools last week and did not allow him to enrol two Chinese students due to the cap.
New international student and future applicants could be offered an enrolment place in 2020 for term one.
