The University of Wollongong is the least profitable university in NSW, and, without the benefit of a one-time sell-off of a joint-university investment vehicle, would have been in the red for two years in a row, as other universities began to recover from the impact of COVID-19.
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The figures are revealed in the Universities 2021 report from the NSW Auditor-General, which runs the ruler over the financial performance of each university in NSW.
In 2021, the UOW recorded a net result of $8,348,000.
At the other end of the scale, the University of Sydney reported a net result of $1.05 billion.
However, in the Auditor-General's report, the impact of a one-time sell-off of shares through a jointly owned investment entity, Education Australia Limited (EAL), was removed from each university's 2021 result.
This left the University of Wollongong in the red, finishing the year with a loss of $24.7 million. UOW was the only NSW university to not record a positive result once the EAL transaction was excluded.
A UOW spokesperson said that a number of factors impacted the university's performance in 2021.
"The financial results for universities are also impacted by a range of other factors which haven't been specifically eliminated from the net results - these include profit on land sales, return on investments, one-off grants and donations, depreciation (non-cash) and others," the spokesperson said.
"Eliminating these types of factors will change the comparative results."
The Auditor-General's report shows that smaller, regionally-based institutions such as Charles Sturt University, Southern Cross University and the University of New England had similarly lean years to UOW.
In contrast, the University of Sydney and University of NSW had bumper years in 2021, driven by higher overseas student revenue and a decrease in expenditure on maintenance and student services during the COVID-19 lockdowns, as well as savings as from terminating employees through redundancies.
With borders closed in 2021, the ability to attract fee-paying international students was a key differentiator for universities. UOW lost $80,443,000 in international student revenue from 2020 to 2021, while the University of Sydney gained an additional $250 million in international student fees.
In 2021, UOW restructured its international student enrollment model, recruiting more directly from its hubs in Malaysia, Dubai and Hong Kong, and the UOW spokesperson said it expected student numbers to increase in the coming years.
"The model is assisting UOW to bounce back to pre-pandemic international student enrolment numbers."
The Auditor-General issued a warning to universities throughout the state that an increasing reliance on international students from a single source country posed risks for their ongoing financial sustainability.
"Unexpected shifts in demand arising from changes in the geo-political or geo-economic landscape, or from restrictions over visas or travel can impact revenues, operating results and cash flows," the report highlights.
In 2021, for the first time, the top country of origin for UOW international students was China, overtaking India, however UOW was one of the least reliant on students from the country, with just under 25 per cent of overseas student revenue coming from China. The University of Sydney was the most reliant, with over 80 per cent of international student revenue coming from China.
UOW undergraduate employment rates in 2021 were comparatively weaker than other NSW institutions, with approximately 65 per cent of undergraduates in full time employment, below the national average of 69.2 per cent. Postgraduate coursework students were employed in line with the national average.
The Auditor-General's figures were based on surveys conducted by the Australian Department of Education, Skills and Employment, however a UOW spokesperson said a different set of figures painted the university in a better light.
"UOW's graduate employment rates have remained higher than the national average (as indicated by the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2022) while the federal government's QILT Employer Satisfaction Survey rated UOW graduates higher than those of all other Australian universities."
The spokesperson said that UOW was well placed to recover from the past two years.
"UOW is in a strong position to take advantage of a post-pandemic recovery."
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