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Uneven recovery for Australia ’ s university sector .
Four more Australian universities have joined the list of institutions struggling to get back in the black , with the sector still beset by international
Bottom line blues
border closures and poor investment returns .
According to annual reports , the universities of Central Queensland , Curtin , Griffith and Murdoch accrued a combined $ 210 million hit to their bottom lines , turning their 2019 surpluses into 2020 deficits , Times Higher Education ( THE ) reported . The University of Wollongong and the Australian National University are also expected to publish deficits for last year .
However , the financial effect of the COVID-19 pandemic , with its near elimination of the international student market in Australia , has not seen all Australian universities record deficits . That said , several of those that have managed to remain in the black have registered more modest surpluses .
For instance , Western Australia ’ s Edith Cowan University , the University of Western Australia , the University of Queensland and Queensland University of Technology recorded slim surpluses after a combined $ 162 million was stripped from their revenue streams . Yet Central Queensland University did not fare so well , with a $ 54 million reduction in international student revenue resulting in a $ 34 million deficit .
However , the pandemic and its hit to international student revenue is not the sole reason for universities continuing to struggle , as historically low interest rates continue to produce weak yields for university investments . ■
Growing demand
Ivy League colleges see post-pandemic surge in applications , rejections .
Applications for some of America ’ s most prestigious universities have rebounded strongly as the country ’ s post-COVID recovery gains momentum , but the number of rejections has also spiked considerably .
Harvard University – the most selective of all Ivy League colleges – received more than 57,000 applications for the Class of 2025 , with fewer than 2,000 places available . At the same time last year – when the US was experiencing the height of the pandemic – the university received 40,000 applications , Times Higher Education ( THE ) reported .
Other highly-ranked universities , including Ivy League colleges , are also boasting significant year-on-year improvements in
applications . One of these is Colgate University , which recorded a whopping 103 per cent jump in applications . Others experiencing a post-2020 renaissance include Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( 66 per cent ), Boston College ( 36 per cent ), Tufts University ( 35 per cent ), Yale University ( 33 per cent ) and the University of Pennsylvania ( 34 per cent ).
However , the spike in record applications has also resulted in lower acceptance rates . At Harvard , for instance , the 2025 acceptance rate of 3.4 per cent is the lowest on record , eclipsing the previous record of 4.6 per cent set two years ago , The Wall Street Journal reported .
Columbia University recorded the second-lowest acceptance rate of the country ’ s eight Ivy League colleges , accepting just 3.7 per cent of the more than 60,000 students who applied . In 2020 , Columbia accepted 6.1 per cent of all applications .
Princeton University trailed slightly behind Columbia , accepting only 1,498 ( or 4 per cent ) of the 37,601 applications it received . Yale University ’ s applicant pool for 2025 grew by 33 per cent over last year , but its acceptance rate dropped from 6.5 per cent to 4.6 per cent .
The record number of applications at Ivy League colleges and other highly-ranked universities in the US has been attributed to both a post-pandemic recovery and an “ optional test policy ” brought in this year , which has been adopted by roughly three-quarters of US colleges .
“ There ’ s absolutely no doubt in anyone ’ s mind that eliminating the SAT requirement was what drove the vast majority of the application increase this year ,” Jon Boeckenstedt at Oregon State University said . ■
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