When you have to choose a place to study, you take several criteria into account. For example, the study programs, quality of life, dorm availability, or even the nightlife in the places you’re considering. Well, we’ve found a place that covers it all. Here are all the reasons you need to opt for a Gold Coast University.
Location
Gold Coast, as its name suggests, is a lovely coastal city in the state of Queensland, about 80 kilometers from Brisbane. It’s also the biggest non-capital city in Australia and a part of an urban district, covering the area from the northern suburbs of Brisbane to Tweed Heads, New South Wales. The city is appealing to both tourists and students, due to the fun theme parks, perfect surfing spots on its nearly sixty kilometers of coastline, as well as other entertainment it offers. Its subtropical climate means that the weather is moderately warm and sunny from March to November, during the academic year, making it perfect for students. On the other hand, from December to February there’s a lot of rain and high humidity.
Universities
Other than being a very popular tourist destination, four Australian universities have their campuses there, making Gold Coast the temporary home of about 30,000 university students. The city is the home to a small, private university, Bond University. It’s one of the leading universities in Australia for its teaching programs and staff, as well as for the available student services. Griffith University, which is a regional university with about 40,000 students, 10,000 of which are international, has its biggest campus located in Gold Coast. However, campuses of CQUniversity and Southern Cross University can also be found there. CQUniversity’s hometown is Rockhampton, and it’s famous for its health sciences program, even though it offers many other courses, covering most subject areas. Southern Cross University is a smaller, regional university from Lismore, with its campus near the Gold Coast airport. Among these four universities, you can choose any program you’re interested in.
Social life
If you’re a student, your first concern is your education. Keeping up with your classes, homework, and studies in general, can sometimes be overwhelming, so you need to loosen up from time to time. And no matter how difficult it gets, you always need to find the time to go out and have some fun. Well, when it comes to fun and going out, Gold Coast is the place to be. People are generally outdoorsy, which isn’t strange, considering the wonderful beaches and the great weather all year round. There are many restaurants and clubs you can visit, parties of all sorts, cinemas and shopping malls, concert venues and theaters, but also wonderful nature resorts and national parks. All four universities invest a lot in sports and encourage their students to participate in many different sports-related activities. Also, there are many clubs students can join, about 120 between the 4 campuses, from educational and political ones, to religious and cultural. Students are offered with many opportunities to be active, as well as to communicate and help each other. This provides options and relief to students who have a problem with keeping up. They can get help from their peers, or use online Griffith Uni papers and study notes. These notes and papers come from students who studied the same programs during previous years, so they can be of great assistance to your studying process and save you the time so that you can relax. Another great thing is the cultural diversity, a reason for which a number of foreign students decide to enroll in one of the four universities. Also, if need be, there are great hospitals and doctors in Gold Coast, in case you ever get sick, but also providing you with great hands-on experience with patients if you’re a medical student.
The cost of living and studies
The study options are many, from cheap to extremely expensive. For example, Bond University is among the most expensive ones when it comes to tuition, but, by Australian standards, the three public universities are pretty cheap. There are internships, loans and scholarships available to students, and although the cost of renting a place can be pretty high, the tuitions are lower by thousands than those in Sydney or Melbourne. If you need some extra money, you can easily find a student job there, too. Plus, bear in mind that the city is pretty spread out, so finding a place within walking or cycling distance of your university campus can save you money, since otherwise, you’ll have to pay for the public transport.
So, quality education for a fair price, sunshine and the sea, wonderful nature and great nightlife – Gold Coast has it all. Need more reasons to choose a Gold Coast University? We didn’t think so.