Number of Students Studying Online
Online learning provides a great deal of convenience for learners who would like to further their education but who prefer an off-campus to an on-campus setting. As a result, an increasing number of Australian universities are offering online courses, which are being taking advantage of by a large number of students.
Click here for a brief summary of which university has the most online students.
In terms of distance education student numbers, Charles Sturt University (CSU) has the highest number of online students at around 22,000 students. A slightly distant second is the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) with around 17,000 online students. Third on the list is University of New England (UNE) with around 16,000 distance education students.
Postgraduate students apparently have a greater preference for distance education, likely because of existing work and other commitments. At the postgraduate level, the same three universities stand out when considering the percentage of online students. It is significant that the top three universities for online postgraduate student numbers all have over 80% of their postgraduate students studying via this mode. UNE, USQ, and CSU all have well-developed graduate schools operating to a great extent as primarily distance education providers.
NOTE: Click the column headers to sort the table
| University | ug | pg | total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Sturt University (csu) | 13842 | 9125 | 22967 |
| University of Southern Queensland (usq) | 11356 | 5928 | 17284 |
| University of New England (une) | 10126 | 5674 | 15800 |
| Deakin University (deakin) | 5041 | 7298 | 12339 |
| CQ University (cqu) | 7274 | 1698 | 8972 |
| Swinburne University of Technology (swinburne) | 6895 | 814 | 7709 |
| Curtin University (curtin) | 4504 | 2429 | 6933 |
| University of Tasmania (utas) | 4035 | 2075 | 6110 |
| University of South Australia (unisa) | 3184 | 2747 | 5931 |
| Monash University (monash) | 1726 | 4130 | 5856 |
| Charles Darwin University (cdu) | 3975 | 1507 | 5482 |
| Southern Cross University (scu) | 3810 | 1245 | 5055 |
| Edith Cowan University (ecu) | 2765 | 2066 | 4831 |
| University of Newcastle (newcastle) | 638 | 4052 | 4690 |
| Queensland University of Technology (qut) | 911 | 2695 | 3606 |
| Macquarie University (mq) | 1772 | 1506 | 3278 |
| Murdoch University (murdoch) | 1958 | 1261 | 3219 |
| Flinders University (flinders) | 238 | 2957 | 3195 |
| Griffith University (griffith) | 596 | 1808 | 2404 |
| University of New South Wales (unsw) | 41 | 1955 | 1996 |
| Australian Catholic University (acu) | 631 | 1272 | 1903 |
| James Cook University (jcu) | 744 | 1009 | 1753 |
| University of Sydney (sydney) | 89 | 1504 | 1593 |
| University of Queensland (uq) | 308 | 1278 | 1586 |
| La Trobe University (latrobe) | 315 | 1127 | 1442 |
| University of Wollongong (uow) | 5 | 1204 | 1209 |
| University of Western Sydney (uws) | 452 | 632 | 1084 |
| RMIT University (rmit) | 133 | 912 | 1045 |
| University of Melbourne (unimelb) | 11 | 703 | 714 |
| University of Technology Sydney (uts) | 188 | 440 | 628 |
| University of Adelaide (adelaide) | 8 | 419 | 427 |
| Australian National University (anu) | 0 | 315 | 315 |
| Victoria University (vu) | 279 | 23 | 302 |
| University of the Sunshine Coast (usc) | 0 | 99 | 99 |
| University of Western Australia (uwa) | 0 | 84 | 84 |
| Federation University (feduni) | 47 | 34 | 81 |
| University of Notre Dame (nd) | 13 | 9 | 22 |
| University of Canberra (canberra) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bond University (bond) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals: | 93346 | 82324 | 175670 |
NOTE: Click the column headers to sort the table
| University | ug% | pg% | total% |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of New England (une) | 75 | 88.1 | 79.2 |
| University of Southern Queensland (usq) | 66.2 | 86.6 | 72 |
| Charles Darwin University (cdu) | 58.9 | 66.4 | 60.8 |
| Charles Sturt University (csu) | 51.7 | 81.8 | 60.5 |
| CQ University (cqu) | 59.2 | 37.2 | 53.3 |
| Southern Cross University (scu) | 34.9 | 55.2 | 38.4 |
| Deakin University (deakin) | 15.6 | 55.9 | 27.2 |
| Swinburne University of Technology (swinburne) | 27.6 | 12.9 | 24.7 |
| University of Tasmania (utas) | 19.7 | 38.1 | 23.5 |
| Edith Cowan University (ecu) | 14.4 | 34.5 | 19.2 |
| University of South Australia (unisa) | 13 | 36.8 | 18.6 |
| Curtin University (curtin) | 12.3 | 24.3 | 14.9 |
| Flinders University (flinders) | 1.7 | 35.1 | 14.5 |
| University of Newcastle (newcastle) | 2.7 | 44.4 | 14.2 |
| Totals Average (mean) (%) | 10.1 | 23.7 | 13.8 |
| Murdoch University (murdoch) | 10 | 31.9 | 13.7 |
| Monash University (monash) | 3.7 | 23.4 | 9.2 |
| Macquarie University (mq) | 6.7 | 13.3 | 8.7 |
| James Cook University (jcu) | 4.8 | 19.2 | 8.4 |
| Queensland University of Technology (qut) | 2.7 | 25.4 | 8.1 |
| Australian Catholic University (acu) | 3.2 | 23.4 | 7.6 |
| Griffith University (griffith) | 1.8 | 20.7 | 5.8 |
| La Trobe University (latrobe) | 1.2 | 14.2 | 4.3 |
| University of Wollongong (uow) | 0 | 13.7 | 4.1 |
| University of New South Wales (unsw) | 0.1 | 10.4 | 3.9 |
| University of Queensland (uq) | 0.9 | 10.2 | 3.3 |
| University of Sydney (sydney) | 0.3 | 7.4 | 3 |
| University of Western Sydney (uws) | 1.3 | 9.3 | 2.6 |
| RMIT University (rmit) | 0.3 | 8 | 1.8 |
| University of Technology Sydney (uts) | 0.8 | 3.5 | 1.7 |
| University of Adelaide (adelaide) | 0 | 5.8 | 1.7 |
| Australian National University (anu) | 0 | 3 | 1.5 |
| University of Melbourne (unimelb) | 0 | 2.6 | 1.4 |
| Victoria University (vu) | 1.3 | 0.5 | 1.1 |
| University of the Sunshine Coast (usc) | 0 | 7.9 | 1.1 |
| Federation University (feduni) | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.7 |
| University of Western Australia (uwa) | 0 | 1.5 | 0.3 |
| University of Notre Dame (nd) | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.2 |
| University of Canberra (canberra) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bond University (bond) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Key & Notes
* Total Percentages: – total percentages excludes students not enrolled in either undergraduate or postgraduate programs
You might also be interested in the following pages:
– Undergraduate & Postgraduate Percentages
– Gender Balance Male-Female Ratio
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