Rankings · FY 2025-26

Australian University Rankings

All 39 TEQSA-registered higher-education providers, ranked three ways, by enrolment, by QS World University Rank 2025, and by university group membership.

The verdict

Australia's 39 universities enrol about 1,461,000 students between them. RMIT University is the largest at 91,000 students, while University of Melbourne leads globally at QS #13. The 8 Group of Eight institutions hold the strongest research placements; the regional and technology networks compete on access and applied teaching.

Largest RMIT University Top QS #13 Group of Eight 8 Universities 39

Top 10 by enrolment

University Students
  1. 1 RMIT University VIC 91,000
  2. 2 Monash University VIC 86,000
  3. 3 University of Sydney NSW 74,000
  4. 4 University of New South Wales NSW 67,000
  5. 5 Deakin University VIC 62,000
  6. 6 Curtin University WA 58,000
  7. 7 University of Queensland QLD 55,000
  8. 8 University of Melbourne VIC 53,000
  9. 9 Queensland University of Technology QLD 52,000
  10. 10 Griffith University QLD 50,000

Top 10 by QS World University Rank 2025

University QS rank
  1. 1 University of Melbourne VIC · Go8 #13
  2. 2 University of Sydney NSW · Go8 #18
  3. 3 University of New South Wales NSW · Go8 #19
  4. 4 Australian National University ACT · Go8 #30
  5. 5 Monash University VIC · Go8 #37
  6. 6 University of Queensland QLD · Go8 #40
  7. 7 University of Western Australia WA · Go8 #77
  8. 8 University of Adelaide SA · Go8 #82
  9. 9 University of Technology Sydney NSW · ATN #88
  10. 10 RMIT University VIC · ATN #123

By university group

Five informal groupings divide Australian universities. Group of Eight is the research-intensive elite. ATN clusters technology-focused metropolitan institutions. IRU is a research-collaborative network. RUN covers regional providers prioritising access. The remaining institutions are independent or specialist.

Group Members Avg QS rank
Group of Eight 8 40
Australian Technology Network 5 180
Innovative Research Universities 7 418
Independent / other public 13 430
Regional Universities Network 6 767

University group distribution

Number of institutions per university group

Go8 / ATN / IRU / RUN / Other

Go88ATN5IRU7OTHER13RUN6

Source:

All universities ranked by enrolment

The complete list of TEQSA-registered Australian universities, ordered by 2023 enrolment. Click any institution to see its enrolment, QS rank, founding date, group membership, and indicative HECS-HELP costs across representative degree programs. International student share, average QS placement, and group membership are surfaced in the detail page header so you can compare like-for-like.

  1. RMIT University - VIC, 91,000 students
  2. Monash University - VIC, 86,000 students
  3. University of Sydney - NSW, 74,000 students
  4. University of New South Wales - NSW, 67,000 students
  5. Deakin University - VIC, 62,000 students
  6. Curtin University - WA, 58,000 students
  7. University of Queensland - QLD, 55,000 students
  8. University of Melbourne - VIC, 53,000 students
  9. Queensland University of Technology - QLD, 52,000 students
  10. Griffith University - QLD, 50,000 students
  11. Western Sydney University - NSW, 49,000 students
  12. University of Technology Sydney - NSW, 46,000 students
  13. Macquarie University - NSW, 45,000 students
  14. Victoria University - VIC, 40,000 students
  15. La Trobe University - VIC, 38,000 students
  16. University of Newcastle - NSW, 38,000 students
  17. University of South Australia - SA, 37,000 students
  18. Charles Sturt University - NSW, 34,000 students
  19. Australian Catholic University - NSW, 33,000 students
  20. University of Wollongong - NSW, 33,000 students
  21. Swinburne University of Technology - VIC, 32,000 students
  22. CQUniversity - QLD, 31,000 students
  23. Edith Cowan University - WA, 30,000 students
  24. University of Adelaide - SA, 28,000 students
  25. University of Tasmania - TAS, 28,000 students
  26. Flinders University - SA, 26,000 students
  27. University of Southern Queensland - QLD, 26,000 students
  28. University of Western Australia - WA, 25,000 students
  29. Murdoch University - WA, 24,000 students
  30. University of New England - NSW, 22,000 students
  31. Australian National University - ACT, 21,500 students
  32. James Cook University - QLD, 21,000 students
  33. Federation University Australia - VIC, 20,000 students
  34. University of the Sunshine Coast - QLD, 18,000 students
  35. Charles Darwin University - NT, 17,000 students
  36. Southern Cross University - NSW, 17,000 students
  37. University of Canberra - ACT, 17,000 students
  38. University of Notre Dame Australia - WA, 12,000 students
  39. Bond University - QLD, 4,500 students

Source: QS Quacquarelli Symonds QS World University Rankings 2025 · 2024 Enrolment data from Department of Education higher-education statistics 2023 release.