A growth decision years back delivers

Rating agency Moody’s assesses Uni Sunshine Coast as Aa3 – an investment grade, for its debt. This is largely due to the new Moreton Bay campus, which the agency likes and lower debt than it expected.

Moodys reports university income was up last year, with new Commonwealth supported places at Moreton Bay. This allows USC to reduce its need for international students, who will make up just 5 per cent of starts over the next two year, moving to 7-10 per cent in the long term.

“The successful opening of USC’s Moreton Bay campus supports the university’s broader operating model realignment to focus on attracting a higher proportion of domestic students, to mitigate the compounding revenue impact of the pandemic,” Moody’s concludes.

Former VC Greg Hill saw the opportunity for a new campus at Petrie, to meet outer-outer Brisbane population growth, and lined up the local council’s support back in 2015 (CMM November 19 2015).  And he successfully kept at the Commonwealth to fund places (CMM February 23 2018).

How right he was.