Tertiary education in Australia


Tertiary education in Australia is formal education beyond high school in Australia, consisting of both government and private institutions and divided into two sectors; [|Higher Education] and Vocational Education and Training provided by government-owned TAFEs & private Registered Training Organisations. Australian Qualifications Framework, the Australian national education policy, classifies tertiary qualification into 10 levels: level 1 to 4 vocational certificates ; level 5 diploma; ; level 6 associate degree and advanced diploma; level 7 bachelor degree; level 8 bachelor with honours degree & graduate certificates and graduate diplomas; level 9 for master's degree; and level 10 for doctorates.
Most universities are government owned and mostly self-regulated. For other institutes there are two national regulators for tertiary education for registration, recognition and quality assurance of both the "provider institutes" as well as the "individual courses" provided by the providers. Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency regulates institutes which provide education from level 5 or above. Australian Skills Quality Authority regulates institutes which provide education from level 1 to level 6.
For admission into Australian institutes, Australian & New Zealand citizens or Australian permanent residents, are considered "domestic students" regardless of whether their prior education was in Australia or overseas. All others are considered "international students". Domestic students need to apply only once to the TACs of the relevant state for admission to all the universities within that state, which grant admission based on the ATAR-based "Selection Rank". Those students with International Baccalaureate, both domestic and [|international students], must apply to the "Australasian Conference of Tertiary Admission Centres" which calculates an Australia-wide ATAR-like national rank called "Combined Rank". Domestic students usually pay far less in subsidised-fees compared to international students. Additionally, [|domestic students] are entitled to Australia's publicly funded universal health care insurance scheme Medicare, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and various social security welfare payments & benefits, e.g. Austudy Payment, Youth Allowance, etc., to meet living expenses. International students are not entitled to these benefits. All international students apply individually to each university, and most international students are self-financed non-subsidised full-fee paying students.
There are 43 universities registered in Australia. Many Australian universities have formed several network groupings, such as the Group of Eight, the Australian Technology Network, Innovative Research Universities, the Regional Universities Network, and more.
Australia is well known for high quality education, most of the universities are government owned, and they rank very highly on the global rankings. Australia is ranked 4th in the OECD by international PhD students destination after the US, UK and France. Australia has a comparatively high proportion of international students as a percentage of students enrolled, at 26.5% in 2018. Australia has the fifth-highest number of foreign students worldwide.
56% of the 462,033 international students enrolled in Australia are from five nations; China, India, Nepal, Colombia and Thailand with an enrolment ratio of 50% in Higher Education, 35% [|VET], 11% ELICOS , 2% Schools and 2% Non-Award. In 2022, 69% of Australians aged 20–64 had a tertiary qualification, and 24% had multiple qualifications. Among all ethnic groups in Australia, Indian Australians are the most educated group in Australia with 54.6% having a bachelor's or higher degree — more than three times Australia's national average of 17.2%.

Important definitions & information

  • Types of Students:
  • * Domestic Student : Must be an Australian or New Zealand citizen, or an Australian permanent resident status, or on a long-term Australian humanitarian refugee visa. Australian citizens and permanent residents living overseas who completed their pre-university education overseas are still considered domestic students for the purpose of tertiary education in Australia e.g. for gaining admission in CSP and for obtaining social security benefits. Domestic students are of following two types:
  • ** [|CSP Domestic Students]
  • ** [|Full-fee paying Domestic Students]
  • * International Student : All others are considered International Students, including those living in Australia on other types of visa. International students pay full tuition fees, though there are certain scholarships for them which are highly competitive to obtain.
  • For both Domestic and International students:
  • * Combined Rank for International Baccalaureate students: both domestic and international students with IB, must apply to the "Australasian Conference of Tertiary Admission Centres" which calculates an Australia-wide ATAR-like national rank called "Combined Rank" which combines results from across all states, thus enabling IB students to "apply in any Australian state or territory with confidence about how their results compare to their peers who have completed state curricula and received an ATAR". Also "when completing your final year of schooling, ensure that you provide permission via your school for your IB results to be released to Australian tertiary admissions centres. As long as you identify yourself as an IB student and provide your IB candidate number when applying for courses, your IB scores and subject results will be received electronically and automatically converted for the purposes of selection and meeting prerequisites."
  • * Selection Rank : a rank assigned by the university for granting admission.
  • ** Domestic students must apply to the [|Tertiary Admission Centre] of the relevant state which will calculate the ATAR and their selection rank is determined by the university based on the ATAR and some other additional criteria assigned by the university.
  • ** International students must apply directly to the university, which will calculate their SR based on their high school qualifications.
  • * USI : An individual student's identification number for life for tertiary education across all institutes. Without one, a student cannot receive their final qualification testimonial, online access, or Commonwealth government financial assistance such as CSP, etc.
  • * EFTSL : A year of full-time study calculated based on number of units undertaken by the student.
  • Fee for "CSP Domestic Students: "Commonwealth Supported Place" subsidised students.
  • * SLE : During their lifetime a student can avail at least 7 years of EFTSL full-time subsidised study in Commonwealth Supported Places across degrees, with additional SLE gained for postgraduate courses, and 3 EFTSL gained after 10 years.
  • * LCR : Fail rate of more than 50 per cent of the units of study a student has attempted. LCR results in termination of CSP subsidised fee. To continue to receive the CSP subsidy, students must pass at least 50% of all units attempted.
  • * CSP students: A study fee where the cost is partially subsidised by the government. Most domestic students are CSP students. Those domestic students who fail to secure a CSP must pay the full fee.
  • ** SCA : CSP student's share of the fee, can be covered with the HECS-HELP and/or OS-HELP.
  • *** HECS-HELP loan: to pay for SCA portion of CSP students. Does not cover the cost of accommodation, food living, and laptop etc.
  • *** OS-HELP loan: For CSP students undertaking part of their course overseas, students cannot get OS-HELP if qualification will be awarded by an overseas university or higher education provider.
  • *** SA-HELP loan: For covering the SSAF for all domestic students including CSP and full-fee paying students. The maximum SSAF institutes can charge a student was $326 in 2023.
  • Fee for "Full-fee paying Domestic Students" only.
  • * FEE-HELP loan: For full fee paying domestic students. While HECS-HELP is a loan for subsidised CSP students, FEE-HELP is a loan for domestic full fee paying students to cover their tuition fees.
  • * SA-HELP loan: For covering the SSAF for all domestic students including CSP and full-fee paying students, the maximum SSAF institutes can charge a student was $326 in 2023.
  • Living expenses assistance for domestic students - Social Security welfare payments & benefits: Only domestic students, both CSP & full-fee paying students, are entitled, e.g. Austudy Payment, Youth Allowance, etc. Domestic students are entitled to a 30–35% discount on train and bus public transport fares in all states, free medical insurance through Medicare, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, etc. International students are not eligible for social security benefits or Medicare.
  • Scholarship: A [|large range of scholarships] are available for both domestic and international students.

    History

Early 20th century

The first university established in Australia was the University of Sydney in 1850, followed in 1853 by the University of Melbourne. Prior to federation in 1901, two more universities were established: the University of Adelaide and the University of Tasmania. At the time of federation, Australia's population was 3,788,100 and there were fewer than 2,652 university students. Two other universities were established soon after federation: the University of Queensland and the University of Western Australia. All of these universities were controlled by State governments and were largely modelled on the traditional British university system and adopted both architectural and educational features in line with the strongly influential 'mother' country. In his paper Higher Education in Australia: Structure, Policy and Debate Jim Breen observed that in 1914 only 3,300 students were enrolled in universities. In 1920 the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee was formed to represent the interests of these six universities.
The 'non-university' institutions originally issued only trade/technical certificates, diplomas and professional bachelor's degrees. Although universities were differentiated from technical colleges and institutes of technology through their participation in research, Australian universities were initially not established with research as a significant component of their overall activities. For this reason, the Australian Government established the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in 1926 as a backbone for Australian scientific research, which still exists today.