Two refurbished floors of Liverpool City Council’s Moore Street building were officially reborn on Tuesday as UOW South Western Sydney Campus.   

UOW vice-chancellor Professor Paul Wellings said the initial student intake was on track with the university’s projections, which show growth to 1400 students – saturation point for the existing building - within four years, and enrolments of 7000 students by 2030.

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The move comes as the university attempts to capture a share of the 7000 students who currently leave Liverpool to attend university each year. 

Prof Wellings said the city was far enough from Wollongong to avoid canabilising UOW’s existing student catchment. 

“We already have a lot of students from Camden and Campbelltown, so in round numbers we have 30 per cent of the market share of those students,” he said. “When you look at Liverpool, we probably only had two per cent of the market share of those students, so we’re trying to pull in that gap.” 

“I’m sure other universities will open up [in Liverpool] because it was the cold spot in terms of higher education provision.

“You can see universities going to where students are, and given the population growth of western Sydney – that’s the major growth hub for the next 20 years.” 

The university’s plans to move into a new building by 2020 are dependent on UOW’s partnership with Liverpool council. 

“We’re doing the Liverpool exercise in the same way as we did Circular Quay and Nowra [campuses], dropping the entrance costs by partnering with other people,” Prof Wellings said. “That’s a very deliberate strategy to expand while keeping the entry costs down.”

Chief Commissioner of the Greater Sydney Commission, Lucy Turnbull and Liverpool City mayor Wendy Waller joined Tuesday’s formalities. In a statement, Ms Waller said the campus would allow the city’s young people to study without leaving their support networks or taking on a lengthy commute. 

“Currently, around 12 per cent of Liverpool residents have university qualifications, compared to 27 per cent across greater Sydney,” she said. “Having our own university campus will help us redress that balance.”

The council is funding $30,000 in academic scholarships over the next three years; UOW will offer two $5000 academic excellence scholarships each year.

In 2017, the campus is offering the bachelors of arts, business, business, information systems, computer science and IT.