Sandstone universities

{{Short description|Group of Australia's oldest universities}}

{{More footnotes|date=February 2008}}

{{Location map+

| Australia

| width = 350

| float =

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| caption = Location of Sandstone Universities across Australia

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{{Location map~ | Australia

| label = University of Sydney

| label_size = 80

| lat_deg = -33.88

| lon_deg = 151.18 }}

{{Location map~ | Australia

| label = University of Melbourne

| label_size = 80

| position = right

| lat_deg = -37.81

| lon_deg = 144.96 }}

{{Location map~ | Australia

| label = {{nowrap|University of Tasmania}}

| label_size = 80

| lat_deg = -42.88

| lon_deg = 147.32 }}

{{Location map~ | Australia

| label = University of Adelaide

| label_size = 80

| position = left

| lat_deg = -34.92

| lon_deg = 138.60 }}

{{Location map~ | Australia

| label = University of Queensland

| label_size = 80

| lat_deg = -27.46

| lon_deg = 153.02 }}

{{Location map~ | Australia

| label = University of Western Australia

| label_size = 80

| lat_deg = -31.95

| lon_deg = 115.86 }}

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The sandstone universities are an informally defined group comprising Australia's oldest tertiary education institutions.{{Cite journal|url = http://www.aare.edu.au/data/publications/1999/mar99470.pdf|title = THE ENTERPRISE UNIVERSITY COMES TO AUSTRALIA|last = Marginson|first = Simon |author-link=Simon Marginson |date = 29 November 1999|journal = Annual Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education}} Most were founded in the colonial era, the exceptions being the University of Queensland (1909) and University of Western Australia (1911).

All the universities in the group have buildings constructed primarily of sandstone. Membership of the group is based on age; some universities, such as the private Bond University, have sandstone-plated buildings but are not considered sandstone universities.

The label "sandstone university" is not completely synonymous with membership of the Group of Eight, which includes the Australian National University, Monash University and the University of New South Wales, but not the University of Tasmania. Nevertheless, the connotations (prestige, a focus on research, and curricula that have a strong emphasis on theory rather than practice) are much the same for the two groups. Australian Government survey data of university graduates has indicated in the past that students who enter the sandstone universities come from higher-income families, and that graduates largely have higher paid occupations or positions of influence, prompting claims of elitism and social division.Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs (1998), The Characteristics and Performance of Higher Education Institutions, Canberra: Higher Education Division, Department of Education, Employment and Youth AffairsDepartment of Education Training and Youth Affairs (1999), Completions, Undergraduate academic outcomes for the 1992 commencing students, Melbourne: DETYA.