Sandstone universities

The sandstone universities are an informally defined group comprising Australia's oldest tertiary education institutions.^[1] Most were founded in the colonial era, the exceptions being the University of Queensland (1909) and University of Western Australia (1911).

University of Sydney

University of Melbourne

University of Tasmania

University of Adelaide

University of Queensland

University of Western Australia

Location of Sandstone Universities across Australia

All the universities in the group have buildings constructed primarily of sandstone. Membership of the group is based on age; some universities, such as the private Bond University, have sandstone-plated buildings but are not considered sandstone universities.

The label "sandstone university" is not completely synonymous with membership of the Group of Eight, which includes the Australian National University, Monash University and the University of New South Wales, but not the University of Tasmania. Nevertheless, the connotations (prestige, a focus on research, and curricula that have a strong emphasis on theory rather than practice) are much the same for the two groups. Australian Government survey data of university graduates has indicated in the past that students who enter the sandstone universities come from higher-income families, and that graduates largely have higher paid occupations or positions of influence, prompting claims of elitism and social division.^[2][3]

Constituent institutions

Sandstone universities can be taken to be either universities founded before World War I, or the oldest university in their respective state; either definition gives the same set of universities.

University	Location	Established	Undergraduates	Postgraduates	Endowment	Academic staff	Colours
University of Adelaide	Adelaide, South Australia	1874	20,005	7,352	$929 million[4]	1,481[5]
University of Melbourne	Melbourne, Victoria	1853	26,751	22,543	$1.335 billion[6]	4,631
University of Queensland	Brisbane, Queensland	1909	35,076	18,620	$224.3 million[7]	2,908
University of Sydney	Sydney, New South Wales	1850	35,351	25,958	$2.5 billion[8]	3,743
University of Tasmania	Hobart, Tasmania	1890	27,880	5,999	$561 million[9]	1,255
University of Western Australia	Perth, Western Australia	1911	19,839	5,967	$709 million[10]	1,538

Gallery

• Sandstone Universities
• 
  Barr Smith Library, University of Adelaide
• 
  Old Quad, University of Melbourne
• 
  Great Court, University of Queensland
• 
  Main Quadrangle, University of Sydney
• 
  Domain House, University of Tasmania
• 
  Winthrop Hall, University of Western Australia

Other Australian university groups

Red brick universities

The University of New South Wales, Monash University and the Australian National University have been termed 'red brick' universities.^[11] They are similar to the red brick universities in the UK, both groups coming after the ancient universities and sandstone universities.

Verdant (gumtree) universities

Further information: Verdant universities

Universities founded in the 1960s and 70s have been known informally as 'verdant' or 'gumtree' universities.^[12][13] These universities were established in their state capitals, often next to native bush land (now nature reserves), and have lush vegetative campuses. They are predominantly the second or third established university in their state.^[14]

See also

• List of oldest universities in continuous operation
• Ancient universities, oldest universities in Great Britain and Ireland
• Ancient universities of Scotland, oldest universities in Scotland
• Colonial colleges, oldest universities in the United States of America
• Imperial Universities, oldest universities founded during the Empire of Japan

References

1. Marginson, Simon (29 November 1999). "THE ENTERPRISE UNIVERSITY COMES TO AUSTRALIA" (PDF). Annual Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education.
2. Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs (1998), The Characteristics and Performance of Higher Education Institutions, Canberra: Higher Education Division, Department of Education, Employment and Youth Affairs
3. Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs (1999), Completions, Undergraduate academic outcomes for the 1992 commencing students, Melbourne: DETYA.
4. "2017 University of Adelaide Annual Report" (PDF). adelaide.edu.au. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
5. "2018 Pocket Statistics" (PDF). Retrieved 18 October 2018.
6. "2018 Annual Report" (PDF). University of Melbourne. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
7. "Annual Report 2018" (PDF). The University of Queensland.
8. "University of Sydney 2018 Annual Report" (PDF). University of Sydney.
9. "Higher Education Financial" (PDF). Department of Education.
10. "2018 Annual Report" (PDF). University of Western Australia.
11. Gable, Guy (2008). The Information Systems Academic Discipline in Australia. ANU E PRESS. p. 319. ISBN 9781921313943.
12. "Types of Australian universities". www.academia.edu. Retrieved 2015-10-09. ^{[dubious – discuss]}
13. Marginson, Simon; Considine, Mark (2000). The Enterprise University: Power, Governance and Reinvention in Australia. Cambridge University Press. p. 15-16. ISBN 052179448X.
14. The only exception is Macquarie, which is the third university is Sydney, but the fourth university in New South Wales. It follows the University of Sydney (1850), University of New South Wales (1949) and University of New England (1954).

Bibliography

• Walden, Scott & Douglas South Australia - Three Universities 2003
• Australian Colonial Period - 1788-1901