The top universities in Perth and Western Australia (WA)
As Australia's largest state, occupying the entire western coastline, it's not surprising that Western Australia offers students the best of both worlds: a great lifestyle and a range of study options.
While most uni campuses are clustered around Perth and Fremantle, those in Kalgoorlie in WA’s Goldfields and Broome on the north-west coast are quite possibly the farthest flung in Australia.
Undergraduate degrees are available across a broad range of subject areas. In WA you could find yourself studying anything from ecotourism, veterinary science or viticulture to business, journalism, law, medicine or performing arts. With WA’s mining boom, courses in petroleum and mining engineering are a state specialty.
Where to study in Western Australia
Universities in Western Australia
There are six universities in Western Australia:
The best universities in Western Australia for 2025
The Good Universities Guide ratings provide a series of insights on Australian universities, helping you in the process of deciding where to study. There is no one university that is best for all students, since different things matter to different people.
Courses and institutions differ in many ways and only you can decide which differences really matter to you. Check out the ratings for WA universities and filter by study level (undergraduate or postgraduate). Some ratings are also available to filter further by field of study.
In the tables below, we’ve listed the university that ranked highest in each rating category for WA in the 2022 edition of our ratings.
Characteristics
|
Rating type |
Definition |
Top university |
|
Social Equity |
The proportion of domestic students enrolling at each university from low socioeconomic or disadvantaged backgrounds |
CQ University – 45% |
|
Staff Qualification |
The proportion of staff who hold a masters or doctoral degree |
Curtin University — 83% |
|
Student Demand |
Where high-achieving students choose to study — compares the proportion of commencing students with high ATAR scores at each university |
The University of Western Australia — Low: 0 Medium: 0.6 High: 0.4 |
|
Student – Teacher Ratio |
The number of students per teaching staff member |
Murdoch University — 18:01 |
|
First Generation |
The proportion of domestic students commencing a bachelor degree whose parents’ education is known and did not exceed Year 12 |
CQ University — 44% |
The Student Experience
|
Rating type |
Definition |
Top university |
Top university |
|
Learner Engagement |
The proportion of students who felt they were engaged with learning in their institution |
Murdoch University — 72.3% |
|
|
Learning Resources |
The proportion of students who were satisfied with the learning resources provided by their institution |
Edith Cowan University (ECU) — 87.6% |
Murdoch University — 91.5% |
|
Overall Experience |
The proportion of students who were satisfied with the overall quality of their educational experience |
Edith Cowan University (ECU) — 81.8% |
Edith Cowan University (ECU) — 82.2% |
|
Skills Development |
The proportion of students who were satisfied with the skill development they experienced through their studies |
Murdoch University — 86.4% |
|
|
Student Support |
The proportion of students who were satisfied with the support they received from their institution |
Edith Cowan University (ECU) — 79.6% |
Edith Cowan University (ECU) — 84.7% |
|
Teaching Quality |
The proportion of students who were satisfied with the quality of teaching they experienced |
Edith Cowan University (ECU) — 84.5% |
Murdoch University — 87.3% |
Graduate Outcomes
|
Rating type |
Definition |
Top university |
Top university |
|
Graduate Salary |
The median salary of graduates from different universities |
CQ University —$63,300 |
CQ University —$73,200 |
|
Full-time Employment |
The employment rates of graduates from different universities |
CQ University — 85.7% |
Head to the Ratings tab to view our most recent ratings across all categories, and filter by subject, level of study or state to find the uni that suits you.
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