Spread across three different campuses in Toowoomba, Springfield and Ipswich, the University of Southern Queensland is one of Australia’s leaders in distance learning. While the majority of its students are based in the city of Toowoomba to the west of Brisbane, it also caters to students studying online across rural Queensland.
The University of Southern Queensland offers degrees in law, engineering, science, business, education, health and the arts, and has been named the World’s Best On and Off Campus University by the International Council for Open and Distance Education. The Toowoomba campus is one of Australia’s most modern, with Harvard-style lecture theatres within its School of Business. There is also a traditional Japanese garden on site, a high-tech gymnasium and aerobics equipment, as well as Olympic standard basketball and netball courts. The Springfield campus is situated around 30 kilometres to the south-west of Brisbane’s CBD, while the Ipswich campus offers degrees in nursing and paramedics part way between Toowoomba and Brisbane. The University of Southern Queensland has seven research centres in total, focusing on scientific, agricultural, environmental and technological issues.
The main campus at Toowoomba lies just to the south of the city centre and is well connected by public bus services, as are the campuses at Springfield and Ipswich. There are also frequent trains and regional buses available from Brisbane, and ample car parking is available on site.
The University of Southern Queensland was established in 1967 as the Darling Downs campus of the Queensland Institute of Technology, before becoming the Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education and then the University College of Southern Queensland. It finally took on its current title in 1992 when it received full university status and played an influential role in founding the Regional Universities Network in 2011.