The students were part of a team that had competed in the Intercollegiate Mining Games in Montana and were in New Orleans on a private holiday.
The two men were reportedly shot by a drug dealer in the West Bank area while trying to buy drugs.
According to the New Orleans Advocate, the men are aged 21 and 23, and had taken a taxi to the Algiers area, which is one of the city's oldest neighbourhoods, to meet with a drug dealer at about 4.15am on Wednesday.
At some point during the meeting, one of the students was shot in the stomach while the other was shot in the chest.
In a statement on Curtin University's website, Vice-Chancellor Deborah Terry said both students had sustained gun shot wounds.
"Both students are now in hospital and are reported to be in a stable condition," Professor Terry said in the statement.
"Their families have been contacted and are arranging to travel to the US. The University is providing support and assistance to the injured students and their families.
"Support is also being provided to the others in the group who were not in the vicinity of the shooting and are unharmed.
"This is a very distressing situation and our thoughts are with the injured students and their families.
"Curtin will continue to provide all the support it can to all those involved, and WA School of Mines Director Sam Spearing will be flying to New Orleans tonight."
The students were part of the WASM Wombats team from the Kalgoorlie-based Curtin School of Mines, which took out top titles at the Montana event, with the Wombat A team dubbed the champions for the second straight year, while the Wombat B team was the runner-up.
New Orleans news network WDSU reported police were investigating a shooting that took place in the city's seventh ward at 3pm on April 5.
The network reported the shooting occurred on the 2000 block of North Dorgenois Street but had no further information about the shooter or the victims.
It is not clear if this was the incident in which the Curtin University students were shot.
- with AAP
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