Sandstone Universities

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In Australia, the Sandstone Universities are an informally-defined group comprising the country's oldest tertiary education institutions. Most were founded in the colonial era, except Queensland and Western Australia. All of the universities included in the group have (or formerly had, in the case of the University of Tasmania) buildings constructed primarily of sandstone. Membership of the group is based on age; some universities, such as Bond University, a private institution, have sandstone buildings but are not considered sandstone universities.

The label "Sandstone University" is not necessarily synonymous with membership of the Group of Eight which includes ANU, Monash and UNSW but not UTAS. Nevertheless, the connotations (prestige, a focus on research, and curricula that have a strong emphasis on theory rather than practice) are much the same for the two groups. Australian Government survey data of university graduates has indicated in the past that students who enter Sandstone Universities come from higher income families, and that graduates largely have higher paid occupations or positions of influence, prompting claims of elitism and social division.^[1][2]

Sandstone Universities can be taken to be either universities founded before World War II, or the oldest university in their respective state; either definition gives the same set of universities, namely:

• The University of Sydney
• The University of Melbourne
• The University of Adelaide
• The University of Tasmania
• The University of Queensland
• The University of Western Australia

[edit] References

1. ^ Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs (1998), The Characteristics and Performance of Higher Education Institutions, Canberra: Higher Education Division, Department of Education, Employment and Youth Affairs
2. ^ Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs (1999), Completions, Undergraduate academic outcomes for the 1992 commencing students, Melbourne: DETYA.

[edit] Bibliography

• Walden, Scott & Douglas South Australia - Three Universities 2003
• Australian Colonial Period - 1788-1901