Edith Cowan University (ECU) provides the ideal learning environment for people who want to reach their potential.

Located in Western Australia, our industry-relevant teaching and research, supportive study environment and award-winning facilities enable ECU students to do more than just survive in this world – they thrive in it.

Established in 1991, ECU took the opportunity to reshape the way higher education is delivered in a distinctive and inspiring campus environment.

ECU courses are developed in consultation with industry, and teaching staff have extensive industry experience and networks. It’s why ECU students can expect placement opportunities, fieldwork, practicums and networking events as part of their studies.

This approach has been rewarded with five-star ratings for teaching quality over the past twelve years, along with consistently high ratings for overall education experience and skills development, as reported in the Good Universities Guide.

ECU’s world-class research strives to make a difference to the community in Western Australia and beyond. ECU focuses on working with communities, business and government organisations to solve real-world problems.

The University was named after Edith Dircksey Cowan, the first woman to be elected to an Australian Parliament. Her life was dedicated to the belief that education was the key to growth, change and improvement in society.

Her example informs ECU’s values as we pride ourselves in developing capable graduates who lead engaged and productive lives in the communities in which they live and work.

We have three campuses in Western Australia, each offering a modern, vibrant location for study and learning. Our campuses feature up-to-date facilities including wireless internet, 24-hour access to computer labs, libraries with open study spaces outside office hours and a safe environment for you to study in, either by yourself or with other students.

ECU has more than 30,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students. We also annually welcome close to 6,000 international students, originating from more than 100 countries.

Eight Schools collectively deliver more than 250 diverse courses across Medical & Health Sciences, Engineering,  Education, Arts & Humanities, Business & Law, Nursing & Midwifery, Science and the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.

Courses are offered on our three campuses – Joondalup and Mount Lawley in metropolitan Perth and the South West Campus at Bunbury, 200km south of the capital city. ECU also offers a comprehensive suite of online study options.

ECU incorporates the world-renowned Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, the oldest and most popular School of Education in Western Australia, the largest Nursing program in the State, and Kurongkurl Katitjin, Centre for Australian Indigenous Education and Research.

Guided by our strategic goals, ECU is building on reputation for excellence in teaching, developing the quality and volume of research outputs and increasing international programs and collaborations.
The ECU Strategic Plan, 2017-2021 – World Ready plots a course to achieve these strategic goals and grow the University’s reputation for having world ready graduates and leading edge research.

ECU is committed to a welcoming and inclusive learning and working environment, offering a wide range of activities to support and advance equality. This includes ensuring people of all genders feel enabled, and are supported, to pursue careers in their chosen fields. The University is striving to remove barriers to gender equity by making improvements to practices and organisational culture, and in particular to attract and retain those who have chosen a pathway in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM).

ECU is proud to be one of 15 institutions in the country to have achieved Bronze Award status as participants in the first Pilot of the Athena SWAN Charter in Australia hosted by the Science in Australia Gender Equity initiative (SAGE). Originating in the UK, this initiative is an accreditation and improvement program for higher education and research organisations, successful in transforming gender equity action to improve the promotion and retention of women and gender diverse groups within STEMM.

ECU is Australia’s top university for teaching quality and skills development in the Humanities, Culture and Social Sciences discipline. It is also Australia’s top university for teaching quality and student support in the Rehabilitation discipline.

In the Creative Arts discipline, ECU was rated Australia’s #2 university for teaching quality, skills development and quality of educational experience. And in the Teacher Education discipline, we’re Australia’s top public university for teaching quality and overall educational experience.

Every year, university graduates around Australia are surveyed about their time at university, including factors impacting the quality of their experience and some post-university outcomes.

The resulting scores are translated into university star ratings and these are published in the Good Universities Guide.

ECU graduates have again given us a 5-star rating for teaching quality. This rating has now been achieved for 12 years in a row.

This makes ECU one of just two public universities – and the only in Western Australia – to have achieved such a consistently high endorsement for teaching quality.

A 5-star rating has again been awarded for skills development, student support, learning resources and for the median salary of ECU graduates. This is based on the starting salary for new domestic graduates under age 25, and in their first full-time job.