The 2018 uni financial figures from the fed government are an indication of the shape of institutions going into the coming cash crisis

The bad news is for universities who were in weak positions when times were good – yes some improved their positions last year but that won’t be long enough to create a cushion for revenue falls this.

The system average margin was 4.3 per cent. Institutions which ran net operating deficits in ’18 included, Charles Darwin U (-8.3 per cent), UNE (-7 per cent), Swinburne U (-1.3 per cent), and Uni Adelaide (-0.4 per cent). Some barely breaking even were Southern Cross U, Charles Sturt U and UNSW.

The big margins were at ANU (nearly 17 per cent), U Tas (nearly 16 per cent), U Western Sydney (nearly 10 per cent).

As to the top five income earners – while the cash came in, a dangerously high per centage of it came from international students;

Some $879m of Uni Melbourne’s $2.5bn in revenue came from international student fees. The figures for the other four are, Uni Sydney $2.5bn and 17 per cent, Monash U $2.4bn, 25 per cent, UNSW $2.1bn and 18 per cent and Uni Queensland, $1.9bn and 21 per cent.