Australia’s higher education landscape is diverse, innovative and, increasingly, competitive. Yet, while public universities dominate headlines and international ranking tables, a large and vital part of the system — private higher education providers — remains largely invisible in the metrics that shape global reputation and public trust.
This absence isn’t trivial. In an environment where rankings often serve as shorthand for quality, credibility and prestige, the omission of private institutes, colleges and academies from formal ranking frameworks risks marginalising a sector that educates tens of thousands of domestic and international students.
The Visibility Gap
When students — particularly those from overseas — consider where to study, rankings matter. They influence perceptions of academic quality, career outcomes and institutional trustworthiness. They also guide policymakers, media narratives, and even investment decisions.
Within Australia’s public system, we have clear reference points: international university rankings and annual performance assessments that provide both transparency and benchmarking. By contrast, the private higher education sector operates without an equivalent framework.
Awards and quality assurance processes exist, but they are rarely recognised outside the sector. As a result, many exceptional private providers — from niche creative academies to technology-focused institutions — struggle for visibility despite their high teaching quality, employability outcomes, and strong student satisfaction scores.
Why Rankings Matter — Even When Imperfect
Critics of ranking systems are quick to highlight their flaws: oversimplification, bias toward research output, and limited reflection of teaching quality or social impact. And yet, as one education leader recently observed, “It’s better to have a subjective system than no system at all.”
Even imperfect rankings provide a framework for performance, a shared vocabulary for comparison, and an incentive for improvement. They drive institutions to set higher benchmarks, communicate outcomes more clearly, and innovate to remain competitive.
For private higher education, a well-designed ranking system could serve as more than a scoreboard — it could become a tool for trust-building. It would allow students, employers, and governments to see where providers excel, and help distinguish genuine leaders from opportunistic operators.
The challenge is not feasibility but will. Australia already has robust quality indicators — including the Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT), graduate satisfaction data, and TEQSA’s performance standards. Bodies like Independent Higher Education Australia (IHEA) and TEQSA could feasibly oversee or endorse a ranking system designed specifically for the private sector.
Such rankings could be developed around core principles:
- Transparency – using accessible, verifiable data rather than opaque metrics.
- Relevance – focusing on teaching quality, employability, student experience, and innovation.
- Inclusivity – ensuring that smaller, specialised institutions can be recognised for excellence in niche disciplines.
By moving beyond compliance toward celebrating excellence, private providers could be encouraged to innovate, collaborate and continually raise standards — strengthening Australia’s overall higher education ecosystem in the process.
Another path would be to integrate private providers into existing national or global ranking systems. While this approach would require collaboration across ranking agencies and governments — and face barriers given the research-heavy weighting of most global rankings — it’s a conversation worth having.
International students increasingly see no clear boundary between public and private when evaluating education options. To them, Australia’s higher education system is one ecosystem — and its reputation depends on the collective quality and integrity of all its providers.
Introducing rankings for private higher education would not just reward excellence — it would recognise legitimacy. It would showcase the institutions driving innovation in teaching, digital learning, and industry engagement. And it would provide a transparent mechanism for students and families to make informed decisions.
As the international education sector evolves, Australia’s success will depend on how effectively it harnesses all parts of its education system — public and private alike.
Perhaps it’s time to stop asking whether private higher education deserves a ranking system, and start asking what’s holding us back from creating one.
