Uni students booking study in Queensland
INTERSTATE applications to study at Queensland universities have skyrocketed by 26 per cent compared to last year, with social researchers attributing the spike to changed perceptions about the Sunshine State in the wake of COVID-19.
An additional 2000 interstate applicants – from 7665 to 9679 – want to study at institutions in Queensland in Semester 1, 2021, data from the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre reveals.
Applicants from Victoria have increased 51 per cent – from 1723 last year to 2597 – while New South Wales applicants rose by 21 per cent – 3637 to 4401.
Demographer Mark McCrindle said the spike was “almost solely” because of COVID-19 and aligns with trends in migration, property searches and job applications.
“It’s either because of the lockdowns or the outcomes of the lockdowns; it’s also because of the changes in how we study and universities are really pivoting to a lot more flexibility in online courses,” he said.
“People are thinking Sydney and Melbourne have gone through a series of rolling lockdowns with COVID, the future is going to be pretty similar to the recent past in that sense … therefore if you want to just get on and get it done, a relocation to Queensland might be the go.”
Mr McCrindle said the increase in applicants would help to cushion the huge economic blow caused by the loss of international students.
“The goal of the universities is to fill the courses, so the more students they can get the better,” he said.
“Plus uni students spend money, from a hospitality perspective, an entertainment perspective, a general spend perspective. They’re not saving, they do earn and spend so it’s great for the local economy and the broader economy … it’s a good boom to have.”
It comes as interstate applicants for Victorian university spots dropped by 13 per cent on the previous year – from 8669 to 7544.
Victorian Rose Nabanyana, 27, said the Melbourne lockdown pushed her across the line to apply to study a Bachelor of Nursing at the University of Southern Queensland.
“I was looking for somewhere to move but then with all the COVID in Melbourne it was like ‘yep there it is’,” she said.
“School was like a green card to do it, when I got the email back I was like ‘yes, finally’. I’m nervous and excited at the same time because I’ve never lived in Queensland at all.”
A Griffith University spokesman said applications from Victoria for the first semester were up 88 per cent on last year and the university had seen a 30 per cent total rise in interstate applicants.
Year 12 graduate Alexander Berner, 18, moved from central Sydney to Surfers Paradise to study a Bachelor of Forensic Science/Bachelor of Criminology at Griffith University this year.
“I think the culture surrounding Queensland is much more sporty and together, whereas in Sydney it’s sort of more heads down doing the right thing, so the togetherness and social aspect would be the major thing,” he said.