Australia: University College status for SAE’s CMI

The Creative Media Institute at SAE in Australia has been named a University College, according to an announcement. In late December 2023, SAE, which has six campuses spread across five Australian states and one international campus in Dubai, was formally registered as a University College, according to the college.

CEO Joseph Anthonysz hailed it as a “significant milestone in SAE’s 48-year history” and said it was a positive acknowledgement of the organization’s ongoing contributions to the sector.

According to Anthonysz, “SAE looks forward to building on these foundations and sharing our teaching and learning practices to help shape the future of the higher education sector and industry at large.” SAE is a recognized leader in the field of creative media education.

According to Luke McMillan, general manager of SAE for Australasia, the institute intends to continue its student-focused philosophy in the future.

Following the announcement, McMillan stated, “Our elevation to University College status only strengthens that, now and into the future.” “Our students’ best interests are at the core of everything we do.”

The Australian Government first instituted this requirement in 2021, and applicants seeking to fall under the University College category are required to demonstrate their “ability to offer and self-accredit higher degrees by research in at least three broad fields of study.”

It must also be able to self-accredit a minimum of 85% of the courses it offers.

Other universities that have been registered by the nation’s education standards organization under the new University College category since 2021 are the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS), Moore Theological College, and National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA).

“The learning community, facilities, and coursework for SAE students won’t change.

However, McMillan continued, “We hope that our graduates and students will now also benefit from an enhanced reputational consideration of their qualification based on the new category designation.”

The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act of 2011 legally authorized the change. The updated Higher Education Standards Framework for TEQSA, the government’s Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, went into effect in 2021. TEQSA chief commissioner Peter Coaldrake stated at the time that the new framework would “simplify and enhance the categorisation of higher education providers, ensuring the category standards remain fit for purpose”.