The Australian | 12 October 2012
CQUniversity (CQU) is to close its Gold Coast campus as a result of the tough international market as well as stiff local competition for a decision to close its Gold Coast campus. New-to-university enrolments at the campus, which is chiefly international, have dropped by around 60% since 2009.
With its lease of the “tired” facilities on the Gold Coast due to expire in 2014, CQU deputy vice-chancellor Alastair Dawson says the university would need to build a campus to be competitive and it has better things to do than spend $15-$20 million building a new campus there.
Both Griffith and Southern Cross universities have new facilities on the Gold Coast, which is chiefly an international student market.
About 320 of the 350 on-campus students were internationals and CQU had had less luck recruiting domestic students on the Gold Coast.
In 2011 there were 473 internationals at CQU Gold Coast, down a little from 493 in 2009, but the university had much larger numbers at its Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane campuses. Dawson says it makes better sense to dedicate resources to the pursuit of more domestic and international growth at those city campuses.
