Western Sydney will get a new university campus from next year as tertiary institutions jostle to establish their presence in one of Sydney's fastest growing areas.
The University of Wollongong will build a 7000-student campus in Liverpool and offer courses from its business, science, engineering, social sciences and arts faculties.
At present, up to 7000 students leave the area each year to study elsewhere, with no permanent tertiary institutions in the city despite almost half the population being under 30.
Universities are aggressively pursuing potential students in the area, with Western Sydney University taking out ads on Monday to remind students that they were also establishing a campus for 150 postgraduate students in the Liverpool CBD, while the University of Sydney will expand its Westmead operations, 20 kilometres away, to cater to 4800 students by 2020.
"Liverpool's time has come," NSW Premier Mike Baird said on Monday. "We cannot have a great city without a great university."
The university will initially run its operations from two-floors out of the run down Liverpool Local Council building before shifting its campus to the Civic Place development from 2019, where the 7000 students are expected to be based by 2030.
The university will also set up a training facility for 700 nurses to work with Liverpool hospital, despite a current oversupply of nursing graduates.
Vice Chancellor Paul Wellings defended the decision, stating that demand was expected to grow as the city's population surges past 325,000 over the next two decades.
Professor Wellings said that with WSU and Wollongong vying for enrolments, there would be more tertiary competition in the western suburbs.
"Inevitably, as the campuses open, there will be a scramble and a chance for some stratification in the system to take place," Professor Wellings said.
"As the population grows I suspect that we will be saying why don't we have even more campuses here in the broader west of Sydney."
As the University of Wollongong continues to grow, there are concerns over its published minimum entry marks for new students. This year a Fairfax Media investigation revealed that the university had made up to 75 per cent of offers to students in courses such as Business, Digital Media and Law who did not meet the ATAR cut-off.
While Mr Baird applauded the investment of the University of Wollongong and Liverpool Council in the city's future education, he was less positive about the federal government's commitment to school funding ahead of Tuesday's budget.
On Sunday, Education Minister Simon Birmingham announced a $1.2 billion increase in school funding, roughly one-quarter of that guaranteed by Labor under the needs-based Gonski funding agreement.
Mr Baird praised the Gonski reforms for the additional capacity they have provided for the state's most disadvantaged children.
"We are welcoming what the Commonwealth government announced on the weekend," he said. "But we will continue to argue for the full funding that was part of the original agreement."
