If you are looking to study in Australia, then you are going to need a little information about your university options.
There are 35 top universities in Australia, according to Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings 2019, and six of them feature in the prestigious top 100, meaning there is no shortage of choice.
The best Australian universities are spread across the country, from Perth in the west to Brisbane in the east, Darwin in the north to Hobart in the south.
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The best university in Australia, according to the THE rankings, is the University of Melbourne – one of two universities in the country to make the top 50 of the overall world ranking (32). It is followed by the Australian National University (49), University of Sydney (=59), University of Queensland (69) and Monash University (=84)
Australia has the third highest number of international students in the world behind the UK and the US – pretty impressive for a nation of just 24 million people.
Top 5 universities in Australia
1. University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne was founded in 1853, making it the second oldest in the country (keep reading to find out the oldest).
It is home to 45,000 students and 6,500 members of staff, and has 280,000 alumni around the world (some 15 per cent of whom live outside Australia).
There are more than 12,000 international students enrolled at the University of Melbourne, and if you do get a place there, you will be joining students from 130 different countries.
You will also be rubbing shoulders with some pretty famous scholars. Nobel prizewinner Peter Doherty (physiology and medicine) and fellows of the Royal Society David Solomon and David Boger all teach or research at Melbourne.
2. Australian National University
Established in 1946, Australian National University (ANU) was originally created as a postgraduate research university by the Parliament of Australia. It is located in Canberra, Australia's capital city and seat of government.
It counts six Nobel prizewinners among its faculty and alumni, and is even run by a Nobel laureate. Brian Schmidt, who won the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics (with Saul Perlmutter and Adam Riess) for providing evidence that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, is the institution’s vice-chancellor.
The university has many partnerships with international universities such as Yale University, the University of Oxford, ETH Zurich, and the National University of Singapore among others.
3. University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is the oldest university in Australia (founded in 1851).
Currently, 43,000 students attend the University of Sydney, representing some 134 countries. About 280 overseas exchange programmes are in place with more than 30 countries.
No fewer than five Australian prime ministers attended the university, including Edmund Barton, who in 1901, won Australia’s first ever federal election.
Sydney is also considered one of the best university cities for students.
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4. University of Queensland
The University of Queensland’s (UQ) motto is Scientia ac Labore, which is Latin for “by means of knowledge and hard work” – so be prepared to do some grafting!
UQ has about 38,000 students enrolled, including 12,000 international students from 141 countries. It also has one of Australia’s largest PhD cohorts with about 13,800 postgraduate students registered.
Famous former students include two Nobel laureates, two Fortune 500 company CEOs, Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush and poet Bronwyn Lea.
The university’s main campus is located in the green and leafy inner Brisbane suburb of St Lucia – one of the most affluent areas of the city.
5. Monash University
Monash University in Melbourne, Victoria, is named after engineer and military leader Sir John Monash, and it was the first university in Australia to be named after a person rather than a place.
The university, which has about 44,000 undergraduates and a further 20,000 graduate students, has five bases in Victoria, as well as one in Malaysia. Monash also has a research and teaching centre in the Italian town of Prato, a research school in Mumbai, India, and a grad school in Jiangsu Province, China.
Famous alumni include musician Nick Cave, Booker Prize-winning novelist Peter Carey, and playwright David Williamson.
Top universities in Australia 2019
Click each institution to view its full World University Rankings 2019 profile
| Australia Rank 2019 | WUR Rank 2019 | University | City | State/Territory |
| 1 | =32 | University of Melbourne | Melbourne | Victoria |
| 2 | 49 | Australian National University | Canberra | Australian Capital Territory |
| 3 | =59 | University of Sydney | Sydney | New South Wales |
| 4 | 69 | University of Queensland | Brisbane | Queensland |
| 5 | =84 | Monash University | Melbourne | Victoria |
| 6 | =96 | University of New South Wales | Kensington | New South Wales |
| 7 | 134 | University of Western Australia | Perth | Western Australia |
| 8 | =135 | University of Adelaide | Adelaide | South Australia |
| 9 | 196 | University of Technology, Sydney | Sydney | New South Wales |
| =10 | 201–250 | James Cook University | Townsville City | Queensland |
| =10 | 201–250 | Macquarie University | Sydney | New South Wales |
| =10 | 201–250 | Queensland University of Technology | Brisbane | Queensland |
| =10 | 201–250 | University of South Australia | Adelaide, Whyalla, Mount Gambier | South Australia |
| =10 | 201–250 | University of Wollongong | Wollongong | New South Wales |
| =15 | 251–300 | University of Canberra | Canberra | Australian Capital Territory |
| =15 | 251–300 | Flinders University | Adelaide | South Australia |
| =15 | 251–300 | Griffith University | Brisbane, Gold Coast, Logan | Queensland |
| =18 | 301–350 | Curtin University | Perth | Western Australia |
| =18 | 301–350 | La Trobe University | Melbourne | Victoria |
| =18 | 301–350 | University of Newcastle | Callaghan | New South Wales |
| =18 | 301–350 | Victoria University | Melbourne | Victoria |
| =22 | 351–400 | Deakin University | Geelong | Victoria |
| =22 | 351–400 | University of Tasmania | Hobart | Tasmania |
| =22 | 351–400 | Western Sydney University | Sydney | New South Wales |
| =25 | 401–500 | Australian Catholic University | Sydney | New South Wales |
| =25 | 401–500 | Murdoch University | Murdoch | Western Australia |
| =25 | 401–500 | RMIT University | Melbourne | Victoria |
| =25 | 401–500 | Swinburne University of Technology | Hawthorn | Victoria |
| =29 | 501–600 | Bond University | Gold Coast | Queensland |
| =29 | 501–600 | Central Queensland University | Rockhampton | Queensland |
| =29 | 501–600 | Charles Darwin University | Casuarina | Northern Territory |
| =29 | 501–600 | Edith Cowan University | Joondalup | Western Australia |
| =29 | 501–600 | Southern Cross University | Lismore | New South Wales |
| =34 | 601–800 | University of Southern Queensland | Toowoomba | Queensland |
| =34 | 601–800 | University of the Sunshine Coast | Sunshine Coast | Queensland |
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