Which are Australia's best online universities? Find out from distance learning rankings.
Universities that specialise in distance education are more teaching focused than your average university. The sensible way to rank them is by looking at graduate satisfaction ratings, along with the depth and flexibility of courses. That's how we've ranked Australia's top online universities.
Top 5 Online Universities in Australia
If you're interested in studying for a degree online, here are the top 5 universities you may want to consider first.
Looking at overall performance, UNE is Australia's top online university. UNE remains Australia's second-largest online university and excels in arts, business, education, and science disciplines. It continues to achieve exceptionally high course satisfaction rates, with a recent survey indicating an 85.2% satisfaction rate among graduates—well above the national average of 77.6%.
Deakin University is a complete university when it comes to choice of study mode. Cloud (online) study is widely available for students who can't, or don't want to, regularly attend classes in person. At last count, Deakin had 61,163 students, with 17,440 (28.5%) classified as external, 16,250 (26.6%) as multi-modal learners, and 27,473 (45%) regularly attending campuses. Deakin University scores well on most student satisfaction measures and offers a full range of programs.
3. Charles Sturt University
5. University of Southern Queensland
The University of Southern Queensland is Australia's fifth-largest distance education university, offering courses in nearly every popular field. Serving the good people of Southern Queensland and beyond, USQ is a solid performer in many study areas. Its strongest faculties include engineering and health. We suggest you browse USQ's statistics by study area before enrolling.
Updated: 20 April 2024
Best Online Universities by Subject
Online universities have different areas of strength, as reflected in these subject rankings.
For a given subject, generally the top universities offer many electives, organise residential schools as required, deliver great teaching, and provide excellent student support services. Some statistical factors we consider are student numbers, course satisfaction percentages, and postgraduate tuition fees.
Ranking Components
Graduate satisfaction
UNE led the way in overall course satisfaction, with 85.2% of recent graduates giving a positive rating. Edith Cowan University and Deakin University followed, with satisfaction rates of 83.6% and 83.5%.
Graduate satisfaction among 12 biggest online unis
University | % of recent grads who were satisfied overall |
---|---|
University of New England | 85.2 |
Deakin University | 83.5 |
Edith Cowan University | 83.6 |
Swinburne University of Technology | 80.6 |
Griffith University | 80.3 |
University of Tasmania | 80.2 |
University of South Australia | 79.9 |
Curtin University | 79.1 |
CQUniversity | 79.5 |
University of Southern Queensland | 78.6 |
Charles Sturt University | 76.1 |
Southern Cross University | 74.6 |
Data note: These figures represent the percentage of graduates who expressed overall satisfaction with their course, based on an individual question in the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ). The national average satisfaction rate is 77.6%.
University size
Charles Sturt University is Australia's largest uni in terms of external students, with 21,547 online learners at last count. CSU is followed by the University of New England, which hosts 20,021 online students, and Deakin University, with 17,440 enrolled in online courses.
Largest Australian universities for online study
Rank | University | Online students |
---|---|---|
1 | Charles Sturt University | 21,547 |
2 | University of New England | 20,021 |
3 | Deakin University | 17,440 |
4 | University of Tasmania | 16,569 |
5 | Swinburne University of Technology | 16,002 |
6 | University of Southern Queensland | 13,961 |
7 | Curtin University | 8,175 |
8 | University of South Australia | 8,160 |
9 | Griffith University | 7,227 |
10 | Southern Cross University | 6,799 |
11 | CQUniversity | 6,558 |
12 | Edith Cowan University | 6,219 |
Data note: These are enrolment figures for students participating in undergraduate and postgraduate courses, restricted to those designated as "external" students.