Australian universities' drop in global rankings is Donald Trump's fault, according to The Guardian
The 2026 QS World University Rankings released on Thursday revealed 25 out of Australia's 36 universities had experienced a substantial fall and equated to the third biggest drop in the world.
In The Guardian's article covering the drop, "attacks from Donald Trump" were one of the leading reasons for the slip in standards.
"Dozens of Australia's top universities have dropped in a global ranking amid a 'turbulent year' for higher education, as attacks from Donald Trump's second administration exacerbated years of disruption for the embattled sector", The Guardian claimed in the article's opening sentence.
The rankings reflected growing competition in the region with institutions across Asia climbing up the charts, including in Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.
The University of Melbourne, the country's top higher education institution fell six spots to 19th in the world, with the University of NSW falling to 20th down one and the University of Sydney plummeting from 20th to 25th position.
In its coverage of the slump, The Guardian listed 'attacks from Donald Trump's second administration', referring to the US President's crackdown on funding to Australian universities as a prime reason for the poor result.
Despite the article detailing a range of local policy issues that have contributed towards Australia's poor performance in the global ranking, The Guardian chose to attack the US President in the opening line of its article.
"At least seven Australian universities have had research programs temporarily suspended by the Trump administration this year, while a dozen universities were sent a questionnaire asking to confirm whether they aligned with US government interests," The Guardian wrote.
"The chief executive of the Go8, Vicki Thomson, said the results came against a backdrop of global uncertainty and 'mixed messaging' from Australia's largest research partner, the US."
Although the US government provides Australian universities with a considerable amount of funding, the federal government's caps on international students and declining government funding of the higher education industry have substantially impacted the operational capabilities of the nation's top tertiary institutions.
The Albanese government in mid-2024 announced its plan to cap international student enrolments in 2025 at 270,000 students, with publicly funded universities allocated 145,000 new international student commencements.
The federal government also implemented stricter visa and financial requirements for international students, increasing visa fees from $710 to $1,600 dollars in July 2024 with graduate visa restrictions also imposed on international students over 35.
The Group of Eight – a coalition of Australia's top universities slammed the move and said at the time the decision had 'significantly damaged the global reputation of Australia's international education sector' and would result in up to $1 billion less revenue for their member universities in 2025.
Universities reliant on international enrolments were hit hard by the move, with Macquarie University implementing sweeping course cuts and staff layoffs in late May to bring about short-term savings due to the sudden drop in tuition fees.
Macquarie University's proposed cuts will impact 42 FTE (full-time equivalent) roles in arts and 33 in science and engineering, eliminating popular majors like music, politics and archaeology saving $15 million amid declining enrolment rates.
QS chief executive Jessica Turner said international education was worth an estimated $51 billion in Australia in 2023-24, and that Australia faced mounting competition from multiple Asia-Pacific countries.
'Emerging markets such as Hong Kong SAR, Malaysia, and the UAE are making impressive strides and steadily closing the gap with more established study destinations,' Ms Turner said speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Director of Western Civilisation Program at the Institute of Public Affairs Dr Bella d'Abrera said that campus safety, governance, a rise in antisemitism and free speech concerns were also directly impacting the performance rankings of Australian universities.
"It's hardly surprising that Australian universities are slipping down the league tables, they are no longer places of higher learning but have become ideological training camps where free speech is dead, dissent is punished, and students are forced to toe the activist line or risk academic penalties,' Dr d'Abrera said.
"Free speech in Australian universities is not just under threat—it's extinct. And until we stop rewarding mediocrity and punishing independent thought, our universities will continue to slide into irrelevance.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
About $125k nest egg bump for 30-year-old Aussie on average salary amid super hikes, Australian Retirement Trust shows
A 30-year-old Australian earning the average salary will be $125,000 better off by the time they retire under recent changes to superannuation launched over the past five years. This is the finding of Australian Retirement Trust (ART) which said the gradual increase of the mandatory superannuation contributions from 9.5 per cent in 2020 to 12 per cent from the start of July will contribute more than six figures into young Australians' super accounts. ART's executive general manager for advocacy and impact Anne Fuchs said a 30-year-old on $100,000 per year – the average salary in Australia – will reap massive benefits of the increases since 2020. "In a fortnightly pay statement, the increase in the superannuation guarantee rate may seem tiny,' Ms Fuchs said. 'But over a working lifetime, the magic of compound returns can turn those small increases into hundreds of thousands of dollars.' It comes as working Aussies will receive a 0.5 per cent super contribution bump from the start of the coming financial year. Mrs Fuchs likened the increase to 'reaching the summit of your own financial Everest' for many working Australians. 'Since the superannuation guarantee was introduced in 1992, it has become the cornerstone of Australia's retirement system – evolving from a modest three per cent contribution to a robust framework that provides you with meaningful savings for your future,' she said. 'An increase in superannuation contributions means you'll be adding that little bit extra to your super and over time, that really adds up.' The gradual super contribution changes from 9.5 per cent to 12 per cent was originally proposed under the Rudd government and enacted under former prime minister Scott Morrison. Other research from the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia showed a 30-year-old worker earning $75,000 will be $20,000 better off due to the 0.5 per cent super change. The bump comes as Australia's $4.2 trillion super nest egg will grow from the fourth largest super pool in the world to the second over the coming decade. This is according to a report from the Super Members Council which showed Australia will surpass the United Kingdom's and Canada's pensions amid growth in Australia's superannuation guarantee scheme. Super Members Council CEO Misha Schubert lauded Australia's super system as the 'envy of the world'. 'Australia has the fastest growing super system globally – twice the rate of international peers,' Ms Schubert said. 'We're the only OECD country where spending on government-funded pension payments is falling and will continue to fall.'
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Trump meeting on backburner with PM to skip summit
The prime minister will wait a little longer for a second-chance meeting with Donald Trump as the president pushes out his timeline to act on the situation in the Middle East. Anthony Albanese will not go to The Hague for next week's NATO summit, with his deputy Richard Marles to represent Australia at the event as originally planned. Mr Albanese was considering making a last-minute dash to the talks, which could have provided an opportunity to meet in person with the US president. The pair had been scheduled to hold their first face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada earlier this week. But 24 hours before they were due to meet, Mr Trump revealed he would leave the event early to deal with escalating tensions between Israel and Iran. The prime minister is keen to meet with Mr Trump to try to negotiate an exemption from US tariffs, advocate for the nation's nuclear submarine deal with the US and UK and discuss defence spending. Mr Trump is expected to attend the NATO summit, but there is no guarantee he will not pull out at the last second amid volatility in the Middle East. The US president on Friday said he would decide whether to get involved in the Israel-Iran conflict "within the next two weeks". Liberal senator James Paterson earlier said the prime minister should attend NATO regardless of whether he meets with Mr Trump. He believes it would allow Mr Albanese to co-ordinate with allies and help support Ukraine in its war against Russia. It would also present an opportunity to discuss the situation in Iran with European partners, and discuss defence spending. "If he meets with President Trump on the sidelines, that would be a bonus," Senator Paterson said. "But frankly, I think his approach of now waiting seven months to go and see the president and not going to see him in Washington DC, relying on a chance meeting on the sidelines of an international forum, is a very risky strategy." The prime minister wasn't the only world leader left hanging at the G7. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelenskiy also had talks scheduled with Mr Trump the day after he left. Mr Albanese met with senior members of the president's economic team including US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, US National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. The talks involved trade, tariffs and critical minerals - which Australia has considered using as a bargaining chip in US tariff negotiations.
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Court lets Trump keep National Guard troops in LA
An appeals court has allowed US President Donald Trump to keep control of National Guard troops he deployed to Los Angeles following protests over immigration raids. The decision halts a ruling from a lower court judge who found Trump acted illegally when he activated the soldiers over opposition from California Governor Gavin Newsom. The deployment was the first by a president of a state National Guard without the governor's permission since 1965. In its decision, the court concluded that "it is likely that the President lawfully exercised his statutory authority" in federalising control of the guard. It also found that even if the federal government failed to notify the governor of California before federalising the National Guard as required by law, Newsom had no power to veto the president's order. In a post on X, the Californian governor vowed to press forward with the state's legal challenge. The court case could have wider implications on the president's power to deploy soldiers within the United States after Trump directed immigration officials to prioritise deportations from other Democratic-run cities. Trump, a Republican, argued the troops were necessary to restore order. Newsom, a Democrat, said the move inflamed tensions, usurped local authority and wasted resources. The protests have since appeared to be winding down. The ruling comes from a panel of three judges on the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, two of whom were appointed by Trump during his first term. All three judges suggested that presidents have wide latitude under the federal law at issue and that courts should be reluctant to step in. The case started when Newsom sued to block Trump's command, and he won an early victory from US District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco. Breyer found that Trump had overstepped his legal authority, which only allows presidents to take control during times of "rebellion or danger of a rebellion." "The protests in Los Angeles fall far short of 'rebellion,'" wrote Breyer, who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton. The Trump administration, though, argued that courts can't second guess the president's decisions and quickly secured a temporary halt from the appeals court. The ruling means control of the California National Guard will stay in federal hands as the lawsuit continues to unfold.
