The national figures do not demonstrate the significant differences that exist between institutions;
In NSW, the University of New South Wales had a 4.51 per cent attrition rate in 2015 compared to the University of New England’s 25.12 per cent.
In Victoria, the range was from 3.92 per cent (University of Melbourne) to 23.6 per cent at Swinburne. In Queensland, Bond U (7.81 per cent) and UoQ (8.71 per cent) had the lowest figures and the University of Southern Queensland (23.98 per cent) the highest.
In Western Australia, UWA lost 7.23 per cent of students compared to Edith Cowan where the attrition rate was 21.87 per cent.
In South Australia attrition at the public providers was; 10.79 per cent at the University of Adelaide, 15.51 per cent at UniSA and 16.42 per cent at Flinders. Private provider Torrens University recorded an inaugural attrition rate of 38 per cent.
The University of Tasmania had a 33.64 per cent rate, while the Northern Territory’s Charles Darwin’s was 26.08 per cent
The Australian National University had a 7.06 per cent attrition rate, with the University of Canberra at19.06 per cent.
The multi-state Australian Catholic University’s attrition rate was 13.6 per cent.
Overall Group of Eight Universities had the lowest attrition rates, with the University of Melbourne and the universities of Sydney and NSW showing the least losses.
# The Department of Education and Training explains these numbers as: New Adjusted Attrition rate for year(x) is the proportion of students who commenced a course in year(x) who neither complete in year(x) or year(x + 1) nor return in year(x + 1). … For the new adjusted attrition rate, it is only those students who left the higher education system entirely (that is, they were no longer at any institution) that are counted as attrited.
| State/Higher Education Institution | ||||||
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | |
| Australia | ||||||
| National Total | 12.94 | 12.66 | 13.26 | 14.65 | 15.00 | 14.97 |
| Table A Providers | 12.99 | 12.68 | 13.30 | 14.70 | 15.07 | 15.03 |
| Table B Providers | 10.27 | 11.59 | 10.49 | 10.91 | 10.01 | 10.42 |
| New South Wales | ||||||
| Charles Sturt University | 20.80 | 20.43 | 19.89 | 21.32 | 22.77 | 22.44 |
| Macquarie University | 9.30 | 8.98 | 9.69 | 8.88 | 9.67 | 8.18 |
| Southern Cross University | 20.51 | 22.00 | 23.87 | 23.29 | 24.07 | 23.64 |
| The University of New England | 20.14 | 20.42 | 21.33 | 21.85 | 22.40 | 25.12 |
| The University of Newcastle | 13.28 | 13.67 | 13.66 | 14.50 | 14.54 | 15.30 |
| The University of Sydney | 5.37 | 5.20 | 5.42 | 6.04 | 5.88 | 5.69 |
| University of New South Wales(c) | 5.62 | 5.16 | 4.79 | 5.28 | 4.77 | 4.51 |
| University of Technology, Sydney | 7.16 | 6.82 | 6.73 | 7.71 | 7.39 | 7.29 |
| University of Wollongong | 9.30 | 9.70 | 9.53 | 10.45 | 10.63 | 11.11 |
| Western Sydney University | 11.36 | 11.82 | 12.60 | 12.41 | 13.87 | 14.26 |
| State Total | 11.58 | 11.50 | 11.69 | 12.13 | 12.52 | 12.69 |
| Victoria | ||||||
| Deakin University | 10.13 | 11.31 | 11.65 | 13.28 | 14.41 | 14.66 |
| Federation University Australia(d) | 16.01 | 17.16 | 19.02 | 21.29 | 22.75 | 21.28 |
| La Trobe University | 13.04 | 11.75 | 11.39 | 11.78 | 11.43 | 13.52 |
| Monash University | 7.55 | 6.74 | 6.41 | 7.29 | 6.19 | 6.54 |
| RMIT University | 10.56 | 10.29 | 10.22 | 9.62 | 10.30 | 10.07 |
| Swinburne University of Technology | 12.80 | 13.72 | 21.54 | 28.04 | 24.54 | 23.60 |
| The University of Melbourne | 4.35 | 4.32 | 3.69 | 4.27 | 3.50 | 3.92 |
| University of Divinity | 27.38 | 30.95 | 20.87 | 24.10 | 16.49 | 9.88 |
| Victoria University | 16.94 | 14.98 | 17.99 | 20.46 | 19.15 | 19.11 |
| State Total | 10.80 | 10.44 | 11.75 | 13.96 | 13.38 | 13.67 |
| Queensland | ||||||
| Bond University | 8.45 | 10.25 | 9.94 | 10.89 | 10.62 | 7.81 |
| CQUniversity | 25.29 | 26.96 | 25.34 | 24.87 | 23.36 | 22.46 |
| Griffith University | 16.10 | 14.52 | 15.09 | 15.74 | 15.81 | 17.04 |
| James Cook University | 19.21 | 19.00 | 20.50 | 18.05 | 18.89 | 17.59 |
| Queensland University of Technology | 11.82 | 11.10 | 10.87 | 11.68 | 11.99 | 10.83 |
| The University of Queensland | 9.45 | 8.20 | 8.60 | 9.47 | 9.90 | 8.71 |
| University of Southern Queensland | 24.10 | 22.95 | 24.04 | 24.68 | 22.14 | 23.98 |
| University of the Sunshine Coast | 20.10 | 21.07 | 21.37 | 22.01 | 20.12 | 22.87 |
| State Total | 15.60 | 14.92 | 15.25 | 15.67 | 15.59 | 15.72 |
| Western Australia | ||||||
| Curtin University of Technology | 13.46 | 12.94 | 14.58 | 14.12 | 13.97 | 16.34 |
| Edith Cowan University | 17.96 | 18.44 | 18.49 | 21.57 | 20.81 | 21.87 |
| Murdoch University | 17.41 | 16.88 | 18.55 | 21.17 | 18.09 | 19.26 |
| The University of Notre Dame Australia | 10.40 | 11.44 | 10.20 | 10.50 | 9.57 | 10.63 |
| The University of Western Australia | 7.15 | 7.14 | 6.56 | 6.85 | 7.67 | 7.23 |
| State Total | 13.66 | 13.54 | 14.07 | 15.15 | 14.58 | 16.05 |
| South Australia | ||||||
| Flinders University | 15.06 | 14.73 | 15.58 | 17.19 | 17.14 | 16.42 |
| The University of Adelaide | 10.26 | 10.63 | 12.26 | 10.33 | 11.42 | 10.79 |
| Torrens University Australia(e) | . | . | . | . | . | 38.00 |
| University of South Australia | 14.86 | 16.57 | 15.54 | 16.35 | 16.10 | 15.51 |
| State Total | 13.51 | 14.16 | 14.52 | 14.79 | 14.98 | 14.38 |
| Tasmania | ||||||
| Australian Maritime College(f) | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| University of Tasmania(f) | 18.55 | 17.28 | 20.35 | 31.59 | 37.80 | 33.64 |
| State Total | 18.55 | 17.28 | 20.35 | 31.59 | 37.80 | 33.64 |
| Northern Territory | ||||||
| Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education(g) | 49.18 | 37.12 | . | . | . | . |
| Charles Darwin University(g) | 26.72 | 26.73 | 26.13 | 25.98 | 25.82 | 26.08 |
| State Total | 28.12 | 27.46 | 26.13 | 25.98 | 25.82 | 26.08 |
| Australian Capital Territory | ||||||
| The Australian National University | 5.72 | 5.13 | 6.37 | 7.58 | 7.22 | 7.06 |
| University of Canberra | 15.10 | 14.95 | 14.94 | 17.36 | 17.27 | 19.06 |
| State Total | 11.34 | 10.99 | 11.19 | 13.56 | 13.16 | 13.55 |
| Multi-State | ||||||
| Australian Catholic University | 13.28 | 13.28 | 13.32 | 14.03 | 15.31 | 13.80 |
| State Total | 13.28 | 13.28 | 13.32 | 14.03 | 15.31 | 13.80 |