Best universities in Australia [2024]

Australia has traditionally been a well-liked location for foreign students, in addition to having welcoming communities, distinctive cultures, and worldwide cities brimming with life and history.

World-class universities may be found all around the nation, including those affiliated with the Australian Technology Network and the Group of Eight. In the global university rankings, Australian institutions also do well, especially when it comes to categories like research output and teaching quality.

For those who are seeking to pursue your foundation, undergraduate or postgraduate pathways in Australia, university rankings can provide a sense of whether the institution is right for you.

Ranking providers like the QS World University Rankings and Times Higher Education World (THE) University Rankings are globally recognised, often used by students as part of their research before applying to study abroad.

With that, we’ve compiled the top universities in Australia for 2024 below, with data from the latest QS World University Rankings and THE World University Rankings.

Top 10 universities in Australia 2024

Scroll down for the full list of best universities in Australia

Australia Rank 2024	World University Rank 2024	World University Rank 2023	University	City	State/territory
1	37	34	University of Melbourne	Melbourne	Victoria
2	54	44	Monash University	Melbourne	Victoria
3	60	=54	University of Sydney	Sydney	New South Wales
4	67	62	Australian National University	Canberra	Australian Capital Territory
5	70	53	The University of Queensland	Brisbane	Queensland
6	84	=71	UNSW Sydney	Kensington	New South Wales
7	=111	88	University of Adelaide	Adelaide	South Australia
8	=143	=131	The University of Western Australia	Perth	Western Australia
9	148	133	University of Technology Sydney	Sydney	New South Wales
10	180	175	Macquarie University	Sydney	New South Wales

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There are 37 top universities in Australia, according to Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings 2024, 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 and Hobart in the south.

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The best university in Australia, according to the THE rankings, is the University of Melbourne.

Australia has the third-highest number of international students in the world, behind only the UK and the US – pretty impressive for a nation of just 25 million people.

Top 5 universities in Australia

5. The University of Queensland

The University of Queensland has about 40,000 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 graduates include a Nobel laureate, 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. There are two other campuses as part of the university and 40 teaching and research sites.

About a third of the students come from overseas, from more than 142 countries.

4. Australian National University

The Australian National University was established in 1946. It is located in Canberra, Australia’s capital city and seat of government.

The university was originally created as a postgraduate research university by the Parliament of Australia.

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.

ANU has many partnerships with international universities, including National University of Singapore.

3. University of Sydney

Founded in 1851, the University of Sydney is the oldest university in Australia.

Approximately 46,000 students attend the University of Sydney, representing some 134 nations.

The are more than 280 overseas exchange programmes 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.

There are more than 90 research centres at the university undertaking globally recognised research in a range of areas.

2. Monash University

Monash University was founded in 1958 and is the largest university in Australia.

Famous alumni include musician Nick Cave, Booker Prize-winning novelist Peter Carey and playwright David Williamson.

The university was named after the engineer, military leader and public administrator Sir John Monash.

Students can choose from more than 6,000 courses across 10 faculties: art, design and architecture; arts; business and economics; education; engineering; information technology; law; medicine, nursing and health sciences; pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences; and science.

The university has many campuses across Victoria and Australia, as well as international campuses in Malaysia, Italy, India and China. It operates several libraries at all its campuses, housing more than 3.2 million items in total.

1. University of Melbourne

The University of Melbourne was founded in 1853, making it the second-oldest university in the country.

Nobel prizewinner Peter Doherty (physiology and medicine) and fellows of the Royal Society David Solomon and David Boger all teach or research at Melbourne.

It is home to 47,000 students and 6,500 members of staff, and has 280,000 alumni around the world (some 15 per cent of whom live outside Australia).

More than 12,000 international students are enrolled at the University of Melbourne and, if you do get a place there, you will be joining students from 130 countries.

Top universities in Australia 2024

Click each institution to view its full World University Rankings 2024 profile

Australia Rank 2024	World University Rank 2024	World University Rank 2023	University	City	State/territory
1	37	34	University of Melbourne	Melbourne	Victoria
2	54	44	Monash University	Melbourne	Victoria
3	60	=54	University of Sydney	Sydney	New South Wales
4	67	62	Australian National University	Canberra	Australian Capital Territory
5	70	53	The University of Queensland	Brisbane	Queensland
6	84	=71	UNSW Sydney	Kensington	New South Wales
7	=111	88	University of Adelaide	Adelaide	South Australia
8	=143	=131	The University of Western Australia	Perth	Western Australia
9	148	133	University of Technology Sydney	Sydney	New South Wales
10	180	175	Macquarie University	Sydney	New South Wales
11	=199	201–250	Queensland University of Technology	Brisbane	Queensland
=12	201–250	201–250	Curtin University	Perth	Western Australia
=12	201–250	201–250	University of Newcastle	Callaghan	New South Wales
=12	201–250	301–350	Swinburne University of Technology	Hawthorn	Victoria
=12	201–250	201–250	University of Wollongong	Wollongong	New South Wales
=16	251–300	251–300	Deakin University	Geelong	Victoria
=16	251–300	251–300	Griffith University	Brisbane, Gold Coast, Logan	Queensland
=16	251–300	251–300	La Trobe University	Melbourne	Victoria
=16	251–300	301–350	RMIT University	Melbourne	Victoria
=16	251–300	301–350	University of Tasmania	Hobart	Tasmania
=21	301–350	301–350	Flinders University	Adelaide	South Australia
=21	301–350	301–350	University of South Australia	Adelaide	South Australia
=21	301–350	201–250	Western Sydney University	Sydney	New South Wales
=24	351–400	251–300	University of Canberra	Canberra	Australian Capital Territory
=24	351–400	351–400	Edith Cowan University	Joondalup	Western Australia
=24	351–400	351–400	James Cook University	Townsville City	Queensland
=24	351–400	401–500	Murdoch University	Murdoch	Western Australia
=24	351–400	301–350	University of Southern Queensland	Toowoomba	Queensland
=29	401–500	251–300	Australian Catholic University	Sydney	New South Wales
=29	401–500	251–300	Bond University	Gold Coast	Queensland
=29	401–500	351–400	Charles Darwin University	Casuarina	Northern Territory
=29	401–500	501–600	Victoria University	Melbourne	Victoria
=33	501–600	601–800	Central Queensland University	Rockhampton	Queensland
=33	501–600	601–800	Southern Cross University	Lismore	New South Wales
=33	501–600	601–800	University of the Sunshine Coast	Sunshine Coast	Queensland
36	601–800	601–800	Federation University Australia	Brisbane	Victoria
37	801–1000	1001–1200	Charles Sturt University	Bathurst	New South Wales