Study Abroad: Top 5 universities in Australia - from AUN to UNSW

Representational Image. Sydney harbour bridge and Sydney Opera House

In past few decades Australia has emerged as a top destination for foreign students and more so for Indians. Quality of top universities there and variety of courses they offer to both domestic and international students has made education a key revenue generator for the country.

Education is a key sector for revenue generation in Australia, and education exports had garnered $40.3 billion (Australian dollar) in 2019, which fell to $31.7 billion in Covid-19 impacted 2020, as per official data.

Here is a look at the top five universities of Australia:

ANU is a member of the Group of Eight, a grouping of universities of excellence in Australia and also a member of the International Alliance of Research Universities. Ranked 30th in the world, it is the best institution from Australia, according to the QS World University Rankings 2023.

Founded in 1946, ANU’s main campus is in Canberra, barely 10 minutes’ walk from the city centre. The university has a collaboration with more than 170 universities and institutions worldwide, indicative of its international outlook and global collaborations in education and research. It offers nearly 300 programs, a majority of which are in the post graduate level and houses over 6000 international students. It is a typical comprehensive university with presence across verticals and streams ranging from history to computer science, accounting and finance to statistics, from geology to performing arts among others.

The University of Melbourne is one of the top public universities in Parkville, Australia. It is ranked 33 in the world and second in Australia in the QS World University Rankings 2023 published earlier this year. It is also number eight in the world in terms of employability, indicative of its students’ industry readiness.

With more than 410 programs and courses including 68 in arts and humanities, 70 in life sciences and medicine and 21 in natural sciences among others at the UG level. At post graduate level, it is more tilted towards science and engineering programs. The university has over 8,000 academic and professional staff and a vibrant student body of around 65,000, including nearly 30,000 international students.

The University of Sydney was founded in 1850 as a public institution of higher education. The varsity offers over 300 programs, a sizable share of which are in the post-graduation level, the varsity now has over 320,000 alumni.

The university’s education and research disciplines spans areas like architecture, urbanism and interaction design, arts and social sciences, business, engineering and IT, health and medicine, law, music and science and environment among others. Ranked 41 in the world by QS rankings, this university remains one of the top institutions among foreign students looking to study abroad.

University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney:

A leading university across research, teaching and innovation, UNSW was established in 1949. And has now home to 64,000 students from over 130 countries, and a global alumni community of over 300,000.

Ranked 45^th in the QS world university rankings 2023, it offers more than 250 courses in both UG, PG and research levels.

Its research focus spans across renewables, developing critical therapeutic treatments, creating equitable education, progressing the Uluru Statement, and advancing quantum computing (and much more). Home to one of the best renewable education and research cetres, the varsity is a leader in clean energy education and innovation space. Besides, areas like bioengineering, defence research, micro recycling, agri tech are among other key focus areas of UNSW.

One of Australia’s leading teaching and research universities for more than a century. UQ is ranked 50^th best varsity in the world as per QS World University Rankings 2023 and offers more than 325 programs across disciplines in humanities, STEM, management, medicine and law among others.

UQ’s six faculties, eight globally recognised research institutes and more than 100 research centres attract an interdisciplinary community of 1500 scientists, social scientists and engineers who champion research excellence and continue UQ’s tradition of research leadership. Member of the Group of Eight, UQ has over 21,000 foreign students.