Social work, engineering degrees, among expanding cohorts in Australian universities

More Australian students are attending university than ever before, according to preliminary data released by the Department of Education, with a handful of disciplines moving to drastically expand their cohorts.

Data supplied by Tertiary Admissions Centres across the country shows university applications for commencing undergraduate students are up 4.6 per cent and offers are up 2.5 per cent compared to the same time last year.

When it comes to increased offers, social work leads the charge, with 19 per cent more applications being accepted than last year.

It is followed closely by engineering (9 per cent), science (8 per cent), teaching (6 per cent) and nursing (6 per cent).

Last year, the Albanese government announced the Australian Tertiary Education Commission would allocate an extra 9500 domestic spots across the country in 2026, on top of the year prior’s levels, accounting for about a 4.1 per cent growth year on year.

Education Minister Jason Clare welcomed the data as a hallmark of Labor’s progress in the sector.

“We’re creating more places at uni and it’s great to see them being taken up,” he said in a statement.

“This means more Australians will go to uni this year than ever before.”

The data comes almost two years after the Australian Universities Accord handed down its final report and made 47 recommendations for the government to reform the nation’s education sector.

Among these was a requirement for 80 per cent of the workforce to hold a tertiary education, whether through university or TAFE, by 2050.

Mr Clare said the only way for the country to achieve this target “is to help more people go to university and TAFE”.

“This will help more people build the skills they need for the jobs of the future,” he said.

Another 16,000 fully funded Commonwealth supported places are expected to be allocated in 2027.