Originally founded in Rockhampton in 1967, CQUniversity Australia has experienced phenomenal growth in recent years seen by the remarkable growth in student numbers, new courses, new campuses and infrastructure. Furthermore the University's reputation has seen it emerge as one of Australia’s truly great universities.

ABOUT CQUNIVERSITY
CQUniversity Australia has been on a phenomenal trajectory in recent years and its remarkable growth in student numbers, new courses, new campuses, infrastructure and reputation has seen it emerge as one of Australia’s truly great universities.

Originally founded in Rockhampton in 1967, as the Queensland Institute of Technology (QIT) Capricornia, it was granted full University status in 1992 and was named the University of Central Queensland. The University rebranded to CQUniversity in 2009 and now has more than 30 000 students. It has firmly established itself as one of the largest universities based in regional Australia, with campuses in Adelaide, Brisbane, Bundaberg, Cairns, Emerald, Gladstone, Mackay, Melbourne, Noosa, Perth, Rockhampton, Sydney and Townsville. Along with these campuses, the University also operates study centres in Biloela, Broome, Busselton, Charters Towers, Karratha and Yeppoon, and delivers programs in Cooma, Geraldton and Port Pirie, thanks to partnerships with the respective university centres in those communities.

In 2014, CQUniversity merged with CQ TAFE bringing together more than 175 years of combined experience in the delivery of education and training and establishing Queensland’s first comprehensive, dual sector university. As a result, CQUniversity now delivers more than 300 education and training offerings, from short courses and certificates, through to undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees. Study areas include apprenticeships, trades and training, business, accounting and law, creative, performing and visual arts, education and humanities, engineering and built environment, health, information technology and digital media, psychology, social work and community services, science and environment, and work and study preparation. As a pioneer in the delivery of distance education, CQUniversity also continues to be a leader in this area with almost half of the current student cohort made up of students studying off-campus, many of whom are based in rural and remote areas.

After more than half a century working with stakeholders in regional Australia, CQUniversity is now a renowned research institution in several key disciplines and the benchmark leader for how universities should engage and collaborate with communities and industry. Its applied research focus is oriented towards real-world outcomes, with the purpose of providing solutions to challenges and identifying new opportunities for advancement in our regions and beyond.

In 2018, this research focus saw CQUniversity achieve Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) results of ‘above’ or ‘well above’ world standard in 13 categories of research including Mathematical Sciences, Applied Mathematics, Horticultural Production, Engineering, Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Psychology, Agriculture and Vet Sciences, Agricultural, Land and Farm Management, Public Health and Health Services and Nursing.

CQUniversity is proud to be recognised as Australia’s most inclusive university with some of the highest ratios of students from disadvantaged, mature age, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, and first-in-family backgrounds. This inclusive approach and commitment to access and participation mean the University defines itself by who it embraces, rather than who it excludes.

Graduates from CQUniversity also have some of the best employment outcomes in Australia, with recent data released by the Graduate Outcomes Survey indicating that 79.9 per cent of domestic undergraduate students find full-time employment within four months of graduation, compared to the national average of 71.9 per cent. Data released by the Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) also shows that CQUniversity outperforms the majority of Australian universities when it comes to the overall student experience and graduate salary outcomes.

CQUniversity places a strong emphasis on social innovation and global outreach and fosters a number of key partnerships with communities, industry and government, both in Australia and overseas. This commitment to engagement and social advancement has led to CQUniversity being recognised as Australia’s first and only Changemaker Campus by Ashoka U, an exclusive global social innovation group made up of only 40 education institutions across the world.

CQUniversity’s unique vision for diversity, outreach, engagement, research, learning and teaching, and inclusiveness, combined with its growth aspirations and continued expansion of student success, research excellence, social innovation and community engagement, has led to it being recognised within the top 600 universities in the world by the prestigious Times Higher Education World Rankings, and among the world’s best ‘young universities’ by both the Times Higher Education and QS World University Rankings.

WHY CHOOSE CQUNI
With a vast footprint spanning Australia's east to west coast and a digital one that's global, CQUniversity truly embodies our approach to education. We believe higher education should be for everyone – no matter your postcode or educational background. Our accessibility, flexibility, student support and wide range of more than 300 TAFE and university courses offered online and on-campus help our students be what they want to be.

In just 25 years, we’ve achieved some amazing feats – we’ve been ranked among the best in the world for our teaching and learning, and are internationally recognised for our focus on social innovation. Our graduates are some of the most sought-after in Australia, due to our reputation for work integrated learning and industry-aligned courses, and experience some of the nation’s best graduate outcomes. We’re also regarded as the nation’s most inclusive and engaged university, with our award-winning academic and research staff making a real impact on the communities and industries we serve.

•A WORLD-CLASS UNIVERSITY - The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020 places CQUniversity in the top 601-800 universities in the world. Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2020 ranks CQUniversity as one of the top 650 universities globally. With more than 28 000 universities globally, this places us among some of the highest-achieving institutions.

•MAKING A DIFFERENCE - The Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings 2020 recognise universities across the world for their social and economic impact based on the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). CQUniversity is ranked 76th for our commitment to Sustainable Development Goal 16 ‘Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions’, as well as notable scores in the six other SDG categories we participated in. Overall, our commitment to sustainability sees us ranked in the top 200 universities participating in these prestigious rankings.

•A QUALITY EDUCATION FOR EVERYONE - The Good Universities Guide provides independent performance ratings for every university in Australia, and in 2020 has awarded CQUniversity five-star ratings in five categories, including social equity and first-generation student ratio. These results highlight our commitment to providing quality education to everyone, and has seen us ranked #1 in Australia for social equity, and #2 in the country for first-generation student ratio.

•THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE - We’ve been recognised by The Good Universities Guide 2020 as one of the top ten Australian universities for undergraduate student support, and we're proud to also receive a five-star rating in this category.

•A LEADER IN DISTANCE STUDY - Benefit from the expertise and support of a university with over 40 years' experience delivering distance education. Over half of our Australian students choose to study with us online, receiving the same quality of education as on-campus students.

•WHY STUDY TAFE WITH CQUNI - We have been recognised as Queensland’s Large Training Provider of the Year at the 2019 Queensland Training Awards, for our commitments to delivering quality TAFE education and training options to Queensland communities and beyond.

•UNDERGRADUATE OUTCOMES - CQUniversity continues to be recognised by The Good Universities Guide 2020 as one of the top five universities in Australia for full-time employment and starting salary for undergraduate alumni. Our excellent graduate outcomes have seen us receive five-star ratings in these categories year-on-year.

•POSTGRADUATE OUTCOMES - CQUniversity continues to be recognised by The Good Universities Guide 2020 as one of the top five universities in Australia for full-time employment and starting salary for undergraduate alumni. Our excellent graduate outcomes have seen us receive five-star ratings in these categories year-on-year.

•WORLD-CLASS RESEARCH - At CQUniversity our focus on practical, applied research sees us being recognised as conducting research that is at, above or well above world standard in an impressive 22 categories in the latest Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) results, published by the Australian Research Council.

•WELCOMING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS - CQUniversity is committed to providing a welcoming and supportive experience to all students. In the recent International Student Barometer (ISB) results, 94 per cent of international students reported being satisfied or very satisfied with their arrival experience. We are pleased to also achieve 90 per cent or higher for our support services, learning experiences and living experiences.