This case study aims to contribute some understanding as to why a research oriented university with many thousands of full-fee paying international students was believed not to provide adequate funds for international student support services. Drawing on Bourdieu's notions of fields of power and disciplinary hierarchy, we suggest that the University must allocate resources amongst competing claimants. In the associated internal contest for resources, international student support divisions and disciplines with little intellectual capital but great capacity to attract international students have relatively little bargaining power. This study indicates that the need to build and sustain research reputation led to inadequate funding of support services in an Australian institution heavily reliant on international student income. Ironically, this can mean students who choose a highly ranked university may not receive the support services they require.