The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment of more than 32,000 students (including over 12,800 international students from 134 countries), an alumni base of more than 131,859 and over 2,400 staff members.
In 1951, a division of the New South Wales University of Technology (known as the University of New South Wales from 1958) was established in Wollongong for the conduct of diploma courses. In 1961, the Wollongong University College of the University of New South Wales was constituted and the college was officially opened in 1962. In 1975 the University of Wollongong was established as an independent institution. Since its establishment, the university has conferred more than 120,000 degrees, diplomas and certificates. Its students, originally predominantly from the local Illawarra region, are now from over 140 countries, with international students accounting for more than 30 percent of total.
The University of Wollongong has developed into a multi-campus institution, both domestically and globally. The Wollongong campus, the university's main campus, is on the original site five kilometres north-west of the city centre, and covers an area of 82.4 hectares with 94 permanent buildings. In addition, there are regional university campuses in Bega, Batemans Bay, Moss Vale and Shoalhaven, as well as three Sydney campuses, including the UOW Sydney Business School, the South Western Sydney campus in Liverpool and Southern Sydney campus in Loftus. Overseas, the university has a presence in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
In the 2019 Student Experience Survey, the University of Wollongong recorded the highest student satisfaction rating out of all Australian universities, and the second highest student satisfaction rating out of all New South Wales public universities, with an overall satisfaction rating of 81.
