The University of Wollongong (UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the suburb of Keiraville, within the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately south of Sydney. , the university had an enrolment of more than 33,000 students (including over 12,300 international students), an alumni base of more than 176,000 [LC1] and over 2,400 staff members including 16 distinguished professors.
In 1951, a division of the New South Wales University of Technology (known as the University of New South Wales from 1958) was established in Wollongong for the conduct of diploma courses. In 1961, the Wollongong University College of the University of New South Wales was constituted and the college was officially opened in 1962. In 1975 the University of Wollongong was established as an independent institution. Since its establishment, the university has conferred more than 120,000 degrees, diplomas and certificates. Its students, originally predominantly from the local Illawarra region, are now from over 150 countries, with international students accounting for more than 37 percent of total.
The University of Wollongong has developed into a multi-campus institution, both domestically and globally. The Wollongong campus, the university's main campus, is on the original site north-west of the city centre, and covers an area of with 94 permanent buildings. In addition, there are regional university campuses in Bega, Batemans Bay, Moss Vale and Shoalhaven, as well as three Sydney campuses, including the UOW Sydney Business School, UOW Liverpool and UOW Sutherland. Beyond Australia, UOW has campuses in Dubai, Hong Kong and cities in Malaysia. UOW has also established partnerships with a number of international education institutions in China and Singapore.
History
Over 60 years, the university has grown from a provincial feeder college with 300 students to an international university with over 33,000 students spread across nine domestic campuses and four international centres.
Establishment The University of Wollongong traces its origins to 1951. The foundation of the university was in 1951 when a division of The New South Wales University of Technology (currently known as the University of New South Wales, UNSW) was established in Wollongong. In 1962, the division became the Wollongong College of the University of New South Wales.
On 1 January 1975, the New South Wales Parliament incorporated the University of Wollongong as an independent institution of higher learning consisting of five faculties (including engineering, humanities, mathematics, sciences and social sciences) with Michael Birt as its inaugural vice chancellor. In 1976, Justice Robert Marsden Hope was installed as chancellor of the university. As of 1982, the university amalgamated the Wollongong Institute of Higher Education which had begun life in 1962 as the Wollongong Teachers' College; thus the merger formed the basis for a period of rapid growth in the 1980s.
Further development In 1951, a foundation of the University of Wollongong was founded as a division of the New South Wales University of Technology in Wollongong. A decade later, the division became the Wollongong College of the University of New South Wales.
In 1972, the library was three storeys high and could fit 280 students. In 1975, the University of Wollongong gained its autonomy as an independent institution of higher learning by the Parliament of New South Wales. In 1976, the library expanded and could fit 530 students.
In 1977, the Faculty of Computer Science (currently known as the Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences) developed a version of Unix for the Interdata 7/32 called UNSW 01, this was the first non-PDP Unix. In the late 70s, Tim Berners-Lee sourced TCP/IP software, an integral element of the World Wide Web, from the University of Wollongong.
In 1981, Ken McKinnon was appointed Vice-Chancellor, overseeing the amalgamation of the university with the Wollongong Institute of Education (also known as WIE) in 1982. The Wollongong Institute of Education had originated in 1971 as the Teachers College (renamed the Wollongong Institute of Education in 1973). This merger formed the basis of the contemporary university. In 1983, the Faculty of Commerce was established along with the School of Creative Arts, followed by the creation of the Faculty of Education in 1984. Also in 1984 the commencement of the new Wollongong University building program began, which led to the construction and opening of the Illawarra Technology Centre (1985), Kooloobong (1985, 1986, 1990), Weerona College (1986), Administration, Union Mall (now known as UniCentre), URAC (1987), multi-storey carpark (1990) and heated swimming pool (1990).
In 1993, the University of Wollongong Dubai Campus in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates was established.
In 2000, the Shoalhaven campus was opened at Nowra on the South Coast. The Bega campus was also opened. In 2001, the Southern Highlands campus opened at Moss Vale.
In 2008, the university opened the first building at Wollongong Innovation Campus (abbreviated as iC) on a 20-hectare site at Brandon Park in Wollongong. In August, the Faculty of Science Dean, Rob Whelan, took up a new role as president of the University of Wollongong in Dubai.
In October 2009 Chancellor Mike Codd retired as chancellor after three four-year terms. He was succeeded by Jillian Broadbent.
In July 2010, the New South Wales Health Minister, Carmel Tebbutt, opened the $30 million Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute. In August, a $20 million building housing the Sydney Business School and the UOW/TAFE Digital Media Centre opened at the Innovation Campus. The centre was named the Mike Codd Building in honour of a former chancellor. In 2014, work began on the $20 million iAccelerate building at the Innovation Campus (iC), which offers space for up to 200 budding entrepreneurs to develop their ideas.
In 2017, the University of Wollongong South Western Sydney campus opened on Moore Street in Liverpool.
In October 2020 Christine McLoughlin succeeded Jillian Broadbent as chancellor. Michael Still took over the role in 2024.
In June 2026, Still stood aside from his position as chancellor following the decision of the Independent Commission Against Corruption to investigate the University of Wollongong. Greg West became acting chancellor.
Overseas expansion In 1993 the University of Wollongong in Australia opened what was to become the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) in the United Arab Emirates. Initially called the Institute of Australian Studies (IAS), this centre made UOW the first foreign university to open a campus in the UAE, and the first Australian tertiary institution represented in the Persian Gulf region, as well as one of the earliest tertiary institutions founded in the UAE.'Institutions look to Gulf market' p.30 Australian Financial Review 6 July 1993 IAS initially offered English language programs, before becoming a "feeder college" by 1995, where students completed part of a degree in business or IT in Dubai before coming to Australia to complete their studies.'Wollongong's Arabian outpost' Campus Review 6 October 1999 In 1999, it was the first foreign-owned institution in the world to be issued a licence from the federal government of the United Arab Emirates, and was formally opened as University of Wollongong, Dubai Campus in October 2000. It was officially incorporated as University of Wollongong in Dubai in 2004 and at present it has over 4,000 students from almost one hundred countries.'Uni's Dubai Campus Open For Business' The Illawarra Mercury 10 October 2000
Campuses and buildings The University of Wollongong comprises nine campuses in Australia:
Wollongong The Wollongong campus, as the university's main campus, is located on the New South Wales coast, from the centre of Wollongong and south of Sydney. It is served by the North Wollongong railway station which opened in 1915 on South Coast railway line.
Courses are offered across three faculties, condensed in 2026: the Faculty of the Arts, Society & Business, the Faculty of Engineering & Information Sciences, and the Faculty of Science, Medicine & Health. All together, nearly 33,000 students attend classes along with around 2,400 staff on the Wollongong campus. Apart from the teaching and research buildings, the campus includes student residences, conference facilities, food halls, supermarket, cafes, restaurants, a bar, conference facilities, indoor sports centres and gymnasium, swimming pool and sports fields. The Wollongong campus is also home to UOW College.
UOW Liverpool In 2016 The University of Wollongong expanded the growing South West Sydney region, with a campus in the Liverpool CBD taking its first cohort of students in 2017. The campus is expected to expand over the next several years.
Innovation Campus The Innovation Campus, abbreviated as iC, is located in Wollongong, New South Wales. The campus was established with seed funding from the New South Wales government and has received ongoing support from the federal and state governments as well as the Wollongong City Council and was established to drive partnerships and collaboration between the research and business communities by co-locating commercial and research organisation.
Sydney Business School
The Sydney Business School, which was established in 1997, is the graduate school of UOW's Faculty of Business and offers postgraduate business programs at the Sydney CBD Campus located at Darling Park, adjacent to Darling Harbour, and UOW's Wollongong Campus.
Regional campuses Batemans Bay, New South Wales Bega, New South Wales Liverpool, New South Wales Southern Sydney (Loftus), New South Wales Shoalhaven, New South Wales Southern Highlands (Moss Vale), New South Wales The Southern Highlands campus opened a new building designed by Australian architect Glenn Murcutt in May 2007.
Overseas Campus
Dubai
The University of Wollongong in Dubai (commonly referred to as the University of Wollongong Dubai Campus), abbreviated as UOWD, was established by the University of Wollongong in Australia in 1993 and is located in Knowledge Village KV 14 and 15 Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The university is one of the United Arab Emirates' oldest universities. The campus employs over 4,000 staff and has a student cohort of over 4,000 from almost one hundred countries. While affiliated to the University of Wollongong, UW Dubai remains a separate and autonomous institution.
Malaysia
The University of Wollongong Malaysia (commonly referred to as the University of Wollongong Malaysia Campus), abbreviated as UOW Malaysia, was established by the University of Wollongong in Australia in November 2019 and is located in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.
Hong Kong
The University of Wollongong College Hong Kong was established as the Community College of City University in 2004. It was later renamed as UOW College Hong Kong.
Governance and structure
Faculties and departments
The University of Wollongong has three faculties.
Faculty of the Arts, Society and Business School of the Arts, English and Media School of Education School of Geography and Sustainable Communities School of Health and Society School of Humanities and Social inquiry School of Liberal Arts School of Psychology Early Start Research School of Accounting, Economics & Finance School of Management, Operations & Marketing School of Law Sydney Business School, University of Wollongong Australian Health Services Research Institute Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources & Security
Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences School of Civil, Mining, Environmental and Architectural Engineering School of Physics School of Mechanical, Materials, Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering School of Computing and Information Technology