School of Dentistry and Medical Sciences students Gursahil Dhami, Elisa Cherry and Mohamed Elsherbini said it was tough to get back into Australia but the three Canadian said they would do it all again for the chance to resume their studies.

"We're just really grateful to be back," Mr Dami, from Vancouver, said yesterday when they were welcomed back to the Orange campus.

The Canadian trio were part of the NSW International Student Arrivals Pilot plan, the first flight of which arrived in Sydney last Monday.

Ms Cherry, who is from Ontario said she'd been nervous the whole time leading to her flight from Canada into Singapore where the students joined a chartered flight to Sydney.

"Just because there was a number of COVID tests at a specific number of times and certain dates, where we can stay and where cannot and who we can see and who can see and cannot see," she said.

"I don't think I left my house for like three weeks before the flight, just cause I was like, I can't risk testing positive, " Mr Dhami said.

"We were just scared - we've waited too to come back and it all depends on whether you get a negative or a positive COVID test so all of us stayed put in our house and isolated," Ms Cherry said.

"But I would do those steps all over again to be back, we're very happy to be back here."

In welcoming the students back, Charles Sturt University's Director Global Engagement Eleanor Mitchell pointed out overseas education was the largest service based export in Australia.

"Pre-COVID in 2019 international students contributed $37.6 billion to the Australian economy," she said, adding NSW alone drew $13.9 billion," she said.

"International education really is core to our economy."

Ms Mitchell said the CSU had stayed engaged with its overseas students and thanked their academics like Dr Yvette Rainbow for keeping them engaged for the almost two years they've been away.

The second flight the NSW Vice-Chancellor's Committee Pilot Plan is schedule to arrive on December 24 with 18 CSU students expected on this flight.

"International students bring such diversity and vibrancy to our campuses as well as our communities which were are such a part of," Ms Mitchell said.

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