After years of decline, the number of Australians getting a crack at university are bouncing back.
When you take out the two COVID years, this year looks set to be the biggest year for Australians commencing an undergraduate or postgraduate university degree on record.
Preliminary data for 2024 shows around 390,000 domestic students began a degree - a 3.7 per cent increase on 2023.
This includes more than 20,000 new starters in nursing degrees (a 3 per cent increase) and more than 25,000 new starters in teaching degrees (a 9 per cent increase).
Early, year to date figures for 2025 suggest that growth is continuing with commencements up another 3 per cent compared to the same time in 2024.
This reverses the trend seen since 2017, excluding the COVID years, where the number of domestic students commencing an undergraduate or postgraduate degree have been steadily falling.
Source: Higher Education Statistics - Student Data
Notes: 2024 data are preliminary. Final, official statistics may vary. 2025 data are a preliminary forecast based on year-to-date (YTD) May 2025 data. Final, full year 2025 data may differ if YTD May growth is not sustained at previous levels throughout the academic year.
In addition, over 14,000 students have taken up Fee-Free Uni Ready courses this year.
Fee-Free Uni Ready courses are short courses that help prepare people for university, acting as a bridge between school or work and higher education.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Education Jason Clare:
'We need more people with more skills. That means more people finishing schools and more people going to TAFE or uni, or both.
"The Universities Accord sets a target that by 2050, 80 per cent of workers will have a TAFE or university qualification.
"To hit that target, we need to break down that invisible barrier that stops a lot of Australians from disadvantaged backgrounds, from the regions and the outer suburbs from getting a crack at uni and succeeding when they get there.
"That requires reform across the entire education system. That's what the fully funding of our public schools is about. It's also what the new funding system for our universities, that will roll out next year, is about.
"That will deliver demand-driven funding for equity students and needs based funding ensuring students get the academic and wrap-around supports they need to succeed at university."
