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Our rankings
World rankings
Southern Cross University is a world-ranked University, combining academic and research excellence with the intimacy and support that comes with being a leading institution in some of the most beautiful and community-led regions of Australia.
In recent years, Southern Cross has progressed up the QS Rankings, Times Higher Education and the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), also known as the Shanghai Ranking. These are the most recognised international indices and each has its own methodology. There are about 11,000 universities globally. In 2024, QS Rankings declared Southern Cross the Most Improved University in Oceania, having seen it rise more than 200 places in the previous five years.
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“This university does remarkable work in education and research … the energy and the passion that I see continually inspires me.”
Our highlights
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QS Rankings
In 2024, QS ranked Southern Cross University at 576th in the world. High ranking subject areas for Southern Cross University include:
Agriculture & Forestry - Top 450Times Higher Education
In the 2024, Times Higher Education ranked Southern Cross among the Top 100 Young Universities in the world under 50 years old and in the top 600 universities globally. High ranking subject areas for Southern Cross University in 2024 include:
- Life Sciences - Top 300
- Psychology - Top 400
- Education - Top 400
- Social Sciences - Top 500
- Physical Sciences - Top 600
- Business and Economics - Top 800
- Clinical and Health - Top 800
Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU)
In 2023, ARWU ranked Southern Cross University in the top 1000 universities globally. High-ranking subject areas for Southern Cross include:
Oceanography
Top 100
Nursing
Top 300
Hospitality and Tourism Management
Top 200
Environmental Science and Engineering
Top 400
Earth Sciences
Top 400
Education
Top 400
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Research Excellence
Southern Cross University’s reputation as a leading regional research university is affirmed by the prestigious Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) results.
Released through the Australian Research Council (ARC), the 2018 ERA results show Southern Cross University as performing at or above world standard in 23 different areas of research. Of these, 14 received the highest possible classification of 'well above world standard’.
ERA identifies and promotes excellence across the research spectrum.
Southern Cross achieved 14 ERA-5 results. These fields of research are:
- Earth Sciences
- Geochemistry
- Oceanography
- Environmental Science and Management
- Ecology
- Zoology
- Agriculture and Veterinary Science
- Crop and Pasture production
- Fisheries Sciences
- Forestry Sciences
- Civil Engineering
- Resources Engineering and Extractive Metallurgy
- Complementary and Alternative Medicine
- Nursing
Read more about our research impact.
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Good Universities Guide
Engineering No.1
In 2022, the Good Universities Guide rated Southern Cross University No.1 in Australia for Engineering and Technology, awarding it five stars (the top accolade) for Overall Experience, Student Support, Learning Resources, Teaching Quality and Skills Development.
Business Five Stars
In Accounting, Economics, Business and Management, Southern Cross rated five stars for Full-time Employment, Overall Experience, Student Support, Learning Resources, Teaching Quality and Skills Development.
GUG also awarded five stars for Post-Graduate Students’ Overall Experience, Student Support and Teaching Quality.
Other five-star study areas included:
- Agriculture (Teaching Quality, Student Support)
- Communications (Graduate Salary, Full-time Employment)
- Computing and Information Technology (Overall Experience, Student Support, Teaching Quality, Skills Development, Graduate Salary)
- Environmental Studies (Student Support, Teaching Quality)
- Health Services and Support (Full-time Employment)
- Humanities and Social Sciences (Overall Experience, Skills Development, Full-time Employment)
- Law and Para-Legal Studies (Student Support, Teaching Quality)
- Mathematics (Learning Resources, Teaching Quality, Student Support)
- Nursing (Full-time Employment)
- Psychology (Student Support, Teaching Quality)
- Sciences (Learning Resources, Student Support, Teaching Quality)
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QILT
The Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) is a government-funded agency that independently surveys all universities in Australia.
Its latest Student Experience Survey in 2022 (released June 2023) shows Southern Cross University scoring 77.1% for students’ Skills Development; 75.2% for Teaching Quality; 70.7% for Student Support; and 81.3% for Learning Resources.
Overall Educational Experience score was 67.1%.