Universities

There are five universities in Western Australia, one of which is in Fremantle – the only private one (but it still does not pay local government taxes, despite being a business).

The oldest is the University of Western Australia, est. 1911 (the same year as Perth Modern School), though the first students were only admitted in 1913. The first buildings were in Irwin Street, Perth, as the move to the Crawley campus only began in 1925.

Murdoch University (named for UWA Professor of English, Walter Murdoch) was the second university, though there were other tertiary institutions in existence. It was formally opened by the GG Sir John Kerr in 1975, when the first (undergraduate) students were admitted. I was among the first graduate students in 1974, and am still said by the university to be the first graduate, in 1977.

WAIT, the WA Institute of Technology, was founded in 1966, having itself grown out of the Perth Techical College opened in 1900. It became the Curtin University of Techology in 1986.

Edith Cowan University opened in 1991, before which it was the WA College of Advanced Education. WACAE had also superseded other institutions: the Claremont Teachers College (1902-); Graylands Teachers College; WA Secondary Teachers College; Nedlands Secondary Teachers College; Mount Lawley Teachers College; and Churchlands Teachers College.

[[../notredame/|University of Notre Dame Australia]] was inaugurated in the West End of Fremantle in 1991 and classes commenced in 1992.

There is or was also Kindergarten Teachers College at Meerilinga, at 1186 Hay Street, West Perth. Apparently, Meerilinga, now a Foundation, is still involved.

References and Links

McKenzie, John A. 1981, Twenty-Five Years: A History of Claremont Teachers College 1952–1977, Claremont Teachers’ College, Claremont, WA.

Personal note

I am a graduate (BA Hons) and diplomate (DipEd) of UWA. I graduated twice from Murdoch University, with two degrees by research (MPhil, PhD). Edith Cowan U considers me to be one of their flock in respect of my graduation from Claremont Teachers College (TC). And I taught at Curtin for one semester. That leaves NDU ... I've been on a campus tour 😄

Freotopia

This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 15 October, 2021 and hosted at freotopia.org/schools/unis.html (it was last updated on 30 April, 2024), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.