Australasia Universities, Colleges, and Polytechnics

Overview

The region of Australasia includes Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and a number of neighboring islands. The over 33 million residents primarily speak English with many indigenous languages spoken by portions of the population. Although it has a small population, this region has some of the highest standards of living in the world.

The economies of Australia and New Zealand are highly developed with significant reliance on international trade and services sectors. Exports of abundant agricultural and mineral resources have helped this region develop into a relatively wealthy one, with some exceptions. Quality of life measures tend to be very high for the major countries with Australia ranking 2nd on the United Nations Human Development Index in 2009 and New Zealand ranking 20th. However, Papua New Guinea, with its large indigenous populations living in traditional, rural societies, ranked 148th out of 182 countries on this index.

Australasian countries are members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the World Trade Organization, the Australia Group, the Asian Development Bank, and many other regional and international organizations.

Higher Education

Higher education in Australia and New Zealand is considered to be world-class with degrees earned at their universities recognized throughout the world. Papua New Guinea's higher education, however, is suffering from years of neglect and underfunding. A small number of universities and colleges are located on various islands in the region but are not of the same caliber as the universities in Australia or New Zealand.

The top universities in the region, according to the QS World University Rankings of 2010 are the 17th ranked Australian National University, the 37th ranked University of Sydney and the University of Melbourne which is 38th on the list. Another seven universities in Australia and New Zealand rank within the top 100 on this list.

Resources

Association of Pacific Rim Universities

Association of Commonwealth Universities

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)