Adelaide - The University City

Our earlier story on international students prompted us to do a little more research on education and its impact on the city.

If asked to name 3 universities in Adelaide, we think most South Australians would respond with Adelaide University, Flinders University and UniSA - the traditional mainstays of tertiary education in this State. However, international visitors might come up with a completely different set of 3 - Carnegie Mellon, Cranfield University, and University College London (UCL). The Torrens Building on the eastern side of Victoria Square is flying the flags for these 3 Universities.

UCL School of Energy and Resources, Australia will become fully operational in 2010.

Cranfield University is a world renowned centre for postgraduate defence and security studies and research. It offers long and short courses to defence organisations and industry professionals in areas including electronic warfare, integrated logistics and explosives.

Carnegie Mellon Heinz College Australia was the first of the three to open for business in the Torrens Building and is one of the top information technology universities in the world.

There is also Kaplan, which last month opened its new premises at 132 Grenfell Street Adelaide, to cater for students enrolled in courses through Kaplan Business School. Kaplan is a leading global provider of education services to individuals, schools and businesses serving over one million students in more than 30 countries.

All this activity means an ever increasing demand for student accommodation. The ipad project in Waymouth Street (containing 220 fully furnished student studio apartments) was completed at the start of the 2009 academic year and filled up rapidly.

A new project, aptly called "The Nest" is underway on the corner of North Terrace and Bank Street in the City. This development will consist of two interconnected 17 level buildings containing 460 rooms designed for student living with a full compliment of facilties including student common rooms. As it is just minutes from both of our North Terrace university campuses we are sure demand will ensure a quick take up.

The City Council's own research predicts that there will be an additional 700 international students per year requiring accommodation in the City. We think this bodes well for the square mile with lots of young people giving it the energy and liveliness that makes a city an exciting place to live and work.