Australian National University or University of Melbourne?

The latest edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject shows how the University of Melbourne and ANU rank for over 50 different subjects across five broad subject areas.

Each institution has its areas of strength, with the University of Melbourne performing well in life sciences and medicine, and engineering and technology subjects. ANU's strongest areas tend to be in natural sciences.

You can view a direct comparison of how both universities compare for specific disciplines in the table below. 

While there may be little difference between the two top universities in Australia in terms of the high quality of education they provide, there's a lot to distinguish them when it comes to location. 

Often referred to as the nation’s cultural capital, Melbourne is an arty city featuring impressive architecture, world-leading museums and an on-the-pulse theatre and comedy scene. The city also offers a myriad of ultra-cool restaurants, clubs, and shopping districts, as well as a healthy love of sports. 

Melbourne is a popular study destination due to its large and diverse student community, excellent quality of living and high concentration of world-class universities. Besides the University of Melbourne, the city is home to several other Australian universities which feature in the QS World University Rankings.  

Canberra is home to ANU and is Australia’s capital city. It’s far smaller than Melbourne, both overall and in terms of its student population, which helps to make this city a somewhat calmer place to live. This could be a good or bad thing, depending on your personal preferences. 

However, as Australia’s political hub, Canberra is anything but boring. During parliamentary sittings, the city is alive with national politics.  

Canberra boasts a beautiful natural landscape. Surrounded by mountains, hills, and bush-land, as much as half of Canberra itself is protected as natural park and reserve land – so if you’re used to living in the countryside, Canberra may be the place you’d feel most at home. 

Aside from ANU, Canberra is also home to the University of Canberra.

Prospective students will be pleased to learn that both the University of Melbourne and Australian National University offer scholarships for international students. Both schools offer online search tools to help students identify which scholarships they’re eligible for. 

There are also several government scholarships available to study in Australia, including the Australia Awards, aimed at students at all study levels from developing countries, and the Destination Australia scholarship. You can find more scholarships to study in Australia here.