The best computer science universities in Australia-New Zealand

Revelo collected rankings from U.S. News and World Report to identify the top universities for computer science in Australia-New Zealand.
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The coveted computer science degree has promised graduates six-figure salaries and exciting careers in high-tech spaces since the personal computer took off in the 1990s.

As an academic discipline, computer science dates back even further. In the 1960s, Purdue University became the first major institution to found a department dedicated to the practice, complete with history books written by faculty members because, at that point, none existed.

These days, the U.S., China, and Singapore are often associated with top-tier computer science degrees, but there are highly respected universities in nearly every corner of the world offering an education in the field. Revelo collected rankings from U.S. News and World Report to identify the top 10 universities for computer science in Australia-New Zealand as part of a larger global analysis.

A 2022 report by the Tech Council of Australia predicts a shortage of 186,000 tech workers in Australia by 2030. The continent’s high schools struggle to send enough students to their universities to study computer science. Fortunately, this small continent presents good opportunities for students traveling abroad. Despite having a fraction of the population of the U.S., it has the third highest population of international students in the world—and the government provides scholarships and grants for people to live and study in Australia. 

Web designers, software developers, computer network architects, research scientists, and systems administrators all leverage computer science knowledge as the basis of their job. And it’s a job that analysts project to be in high demand—even as layoffs at major tech companies dominate headlines.

The typical U.S. worker in a computer science-based career today earns an income of $100,530, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The bureau also estimates the industry will require 377,500 new workers each year for the next decade, as the industry is set to grow faster than the average growth rate of all other industries.

With the tech industry facing criticism for lacking diversity and products like artificial intelligence built on mostly white male perspectives, employers could benefit from looking beyond traditional institutions in recruiting efforts. From 2010-2020, the number of women graduating from U.S. schools with computer science degrees rose only 3%, and graduates from underrepresented racial groups remained flat at just over 20% of all graduates.

U.S. News and World Report ranked 778 universities globally with at least 250 academic research papers, calculating its subject scores on a 0-100 scale based on the number of publications and citations an institution received, its global and regional research reputation, and other factors.

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#20. Victoria University Wellington

– Location: Wellington, New Zealand
– Computer science score: 40.5 out of 100 (#349 globally)
– Overall score: 51.5 out of 100 (#495 globally)
– Enrollment: 17,883

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#19. Victoria University

– Location: Footscray, Australia
– Computer science score: 45.1 out of 100 (#282 globally)
– Overall score: 47.0 out of 100 (#649 globally)
– Enrollment: 14,387

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#18. University of Western Australia

– Location: Crawley, Australia
– Computer science score: 45.3 out of 100 (#280 globally)
– Overall score: 72.2 out of 100 (#83 globally)
– Enrollment: 18,405

Mariangela Cruz // Shutterstock

#17. University of South Australia

– Location: Adelaide, Australia
– Computer science score: 48.7 out of 100 (#240 globally)
– Overall score: 55.6 out of 100 (#363 globally)
– Enrollment: 23,490

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#16. Macquarie University

– Location: North Ryde, Australia
– Computer science score: 51.6 out of 100 (#201 globally)
– Overall score: 63.4 out of 100 (#192 globally)
– Enrollment: 30,561

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#15. Queensland University of Technology (QUT)

– Location: Brisbane, Australia
– Computer science score: 52.3 out of 100 (#186 globally)
– Overall score: 64.7 out of 100 (#171 globally)
– Enrollment: 37,165

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#14. University of Wollongong

– Location: Wollongong, Australia
– Computer science score: 52.7 out of 100 (#181 globally)
– Overall score: 63.6 out of 100 (#186 globally)
– Enrollment: 19,169

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#13. University of Auckland

– Location: Auckland, New Zealand
– Computer science score: 53.8 out of 100 (#169 globally)
– Overall score: 68.2 out of 100 (#123 globally)
– Enrollment: 33,093

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#12. Griffith University

– Location: Nathan, Australia
– Computer science score: 55.1 out of 100 (#154 globally)
– Overall score: 62.8 out of 100 (#203 globally)
– Enrollment: 35,900

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#11. Deakin University

– Location: Burwood, Australia
– Computer science score: 59.6 out of 100 (#117 globally)
– Overall score: 62.1 out of 100 (#217 globally)
– Enrollment: 43,080

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#10. Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT)

– Location: Melbourne (Australia), Australia
– Computer science score: 60.3 out of 100 (#108 globally)
– Overall score: 62.5 out of 100 (#209 globally)
– Enrollment: 32,692

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#9. Swinburne University of Technology

– Location: Hawthorn, Australia
– Computer science score: 64.3 out of 100 (#83 globally)
– Overall score: 63.0 out of 100 (#199 globally)
– Enrollment: 15,327

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#8. University of Queensland

– Location: Brisbane, Australia
– Computer science score: 65.6 out of 100 (#76 globally)
– Overall score: 77.2 out of 100 (#36 globally)
– Enrollment: 41,372

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#7. University of Melbourne

– Location: Parkville, Australia
– Computer science score: 67.9 out of 100 (#66 globally)
– Overall score: 80.3 out of 100 (#27 globally)
– Enrollment: Not available

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#6. Australian National University

– Location: Canberra, Australia
– Computer science score: 68.2 out of 100 (#64 globally)
– Overall score: 73.9 out of 100 (#62 globally)
– Enrollment: 16,758

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#5. Monash University

– Location: Clayton, Australia
– Computer science score: 68.9 out of 100 (#60 globally)
– Overall score: 77.0 out of 100 (#37 globally)
– Enrollment: 58,725

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#4. University of New South Wales Sydney

– Location: Kensington, Australia
– Computer science score: 72.8 out of 100 (#48 globally)
– Overall score: 77.0 out of 100 (#37 globally)
– Enrollment: 45,133

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#3. University of Adelaide

– Location: Adelaide, Australia
– Computer science score: 75.6 out of 100 (#41 globally)
– Overall score: 72.8 out of 100 (#74 globally)
– Enrollment: 23,102

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#2. University of Sydney

– Location: Sydney, Australia
– Computer science score: 78.5 out of 100 (#29 globally)
– Overall score: 79.9 out of 100 (#28 globally)
– Enrollment: 47,118

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#1. University of Technology Sydney

– Location: Ultimo, Australia
– Computer science score: 82.1 out of 100 (#15 globally)
– Overall score: 69.0 out of 100 (#112 globally)
– Enrollment: Not available

This story features data reporting by Paxtyn Merten, writing by Dom DiFurio, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 5 regions.

This story originally appeared on Revelo and was produced and
distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.