So you’ve decided to go to uni but not sure which uni will have a great student life to accompany your degree. You also want to live in an area that is affordable but isn’t boring. On top of all that, you want your uni to have a good academic ranking.
Using the Microburbs ‘Hip’ score, we’ve found the Universities in Australia that have great ethnic diversity, are easy to cycle to, have plenty of young singles and plenty of good cafes, pubs and bars. We’ve put our 5 favourites from the list that will be useful for uni students and investors. The full top 10 is at the bottom. Whilst there are 43 universities in Australia, we’ve focused our list on regional unis as well as some of the ‘group of eight’.
5. Southern Cross University (Lismore Campus):
Hip Score 8 / Rent from $160 per week /Australian Uni Rank 23rd
Lismore is just a 40 minute bus to Australia’s most hyped regional sin city Nimbin and 44 minute bus to the world famous Byron Bay; two of the most ‘go to’ tourist destinations in regional Australia. Lismore itself does boast a surprising amount to do, including access to 30 different restaurants, the regional art gallery and the heritage listed rainforest.
4. Griffith University (Gold Coast Campus)
Hip Score 7 / Rent from $130 per week /Australian Uni Rank 16th
With just a 15 minute drive to both Main Beach and Surfers Paradise, you can explore everything that Australia’s 6th largest city has to offer from the theme parks, nightlife, huge beaches and plenty of young, friendly European tourists to mingle with.
Whilst many students live on campus, the north-eastern side of Parkwood is also popular with a hip score of 7/10.
3. University of Newcastle
Hip Score 8.5 / Rent from $120 per week / Australian Uni Rank 13th
Located 12km from Newcastle city centre, UoN is a popular second choice for aspiring medicine students from Sydney. Newcastle city itself has a hip score of 8/10 and is well known for Nobby’s beach, the vivid nightlife but also the Newcastle night markets which feature street foods, craft beers and artisan foods. Near the beach and around train stations is most popular for student accommodation which have a hip score touching 8.5/10
Other popular suburbs for students include Birmingham Gardens, Jesmond and Warratah West which have an average hip score of 7/10.
2. University of Sydney
Hip Score 10 / Rent from $130 a week / Australian Uni Rank 3rd
The oldest university in Australia is conveniently placed in the city’s inner west; a cultural hub of underground music venues, Newtown night markets, good food and wine festival plus the occasional do-it-yourself Cafe.
Some have criticised Sydney’s recent lockout laws for having had a dampening effect on Sydney’s nightlife. However, this hasn’t stopped vast amount of international music acts regularly coming to perform in the venues like the Enmore Theatre, Oxford Art Factory and much more.
The top suburbs for students include Camperdown, Newtown, Chippendale, Surry Hills & Ultimo which have an average hip score of 10/10.
1. University of Melbourne
Hip Score 10 / Rent from $150 per week /Australian Uni Rank 2nd
Melbourne just takes the top spot after Sydney with a higher hip score and an even better academic reputation. What Melbourne lacks in harbour bridges and opera houses is made up for in laneways and trams, 24 hour nightlife and no lockout laws which make it a great playground for uni students.
Fitzroy (pictured above) was recently named one of the world’s most hipster suburbs and is located just 5 minutes from the uni.
Microburbs founder and lead analyst Luke Metcalfe says “Melbourne is the clear leader among Australian cities for hip score. Sydney may have a strong cluster of very hip suburbs, but when the city is considered overall, Melbourne scores higher.” Australia’s #2 university in the heart of Australia’s hippest city, all with reasonable rents makes the University of Melbourne our hip uni winner.
The full list of the top 10 is below:
| Rank | University | Australian Ranking | Hip Score | Lowest Rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10. | University of Tasmania | 19th | 7/10 | $160 per week |
| 9. | The University of Western Australia | 7th | 7/10 | $190 per week |
| 8. | Southern Cross University (Lismore Campus) | 23rd | 8/10 | $160 per week |
| 7. | University of New England (Tamworth) | 29th | 8/10 | $175 per week |
| 6. | University of New South Wales | 4th | 8/10 | $150 per week |
| 5. | University of Newcastle | 13th | 8.5/10 | $120 per week |
| 4. | University of Adelaide | 8th | 9/10 | $150 per week |
| 3. | University of Sydney/UTS | 3rd/9th | 10/10 | $130 per week |
| 2. | RMIT (Melbourne) | 14th | 10/10 | $150 per week |
| 1. | University of Melbourne | 2nd | 10/10 | $150 per week |
Sources:
http://www.australianuniversities.com.au/rankings/
http://goodeducation.com.au/queensland-regional-universities-are-top-performers/
You can find your uni’s hip score and Microburbs report now, just by searching here.
For press enquiries about this article, please call Microburbs Founder Luke Metcalfe on 0414 183 210.
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