Quick facts about Deakin

Deakin was established by the Victorian Parliament in 1974 as a 'university in the Geelong area'. Deakin began teaching on 1 April 1977.
Deakin had approximately 2500 students in its first year (1977), rising to 4800 in 1980. By 2005, Deakin had over 34,000 higher education students, with around 30,000 more students in professional and continuing education under the corporate arm, DeakinPrime.
The amalgamations with the Warrnambool Institute and Victoria College saw Deakin's student numbers more than triple in the five years to 1992.
Deakin University is named after Alfred Deakin, who is often called Australia's Voice of Federation and was Prime Minister three times between 1903 and 1910.
Deakin was the first Australian university to be named after a politician.
Deakin is a leader in online and off-campus learning. This year, over 10,000 students are studying a wide range of accredited off-campus courses.
When it was established, Deakin incorporated two existing Geelong-based institutions, the Geelong State College and the Gordon Institute of Technology.
Deakin initially operated from four sites, all in Geelong: the Waurn Ponds campus it inherited from the Gordon Institute, the Vines Road Campus of the Geelong State Teachers College and two smaller locations in Geelong.
In the mid-1970s, the disused woolstores on Geelong's waterfront was one site considered and rejected for the proposed university that was to become Deakin. In 1996, this idea came to fruition with the opening of the Waterfront campus. The campus is the result of an award-winning reconstruction of disused woolstores on the waterfront in central Geelong.
By 1984, Deakin had consolidated its operations at the Waurn Ponds campus in Geelong.
Deakin's growth outside Geelong began in 1990 when it amalgamated with the Warrnambool Institute of Advanced Education. This continued in 1991 when it amalgamated with Victoria College, which operated from Burwood, Toorak and Clayton.
In 2005, Deakin's campuses covered 504 hectares. University buildings had a total floor area of 285,000 square metres.
Deakin's Institute of Koorie Education has provided a unique community-based mode of delivering courses to indigenous Australians since its inception in 1991.
In 1993 Deakin was described as the 'Rolls Royce' of universities offering distance education.
Deakin was one of the first Australian universities to embrace professional and continuing education to corporate clients, establishing Deakin Australia (now known as DeakinPrime) in 1993.
In 2005, Deakin's library held 1,693,647 books and 66,421 serials (including electronic journals).
In 2004, the average age of on-campus students was 24, with 75% aged 25 or less. Among on-campus students, Warrnambool had a slightly lower average age (23) than Melbourne and Geelong (both 24). In contrast, the average age of off-campus students was 34 years, with only 15% aged 25 or less.
Female students had a slightly younger average age (28) than male students (29) in 2005 and in the four preceding years.
Between 1999 and 2005, there was a slight shift away from part-time studies (down from 24% to 22% of places) and a related shift away from off-campus studies (down from 25% to 23% of places).
The number of places (full-time equivalent) at Deakin increased by 19% between 1999 and 2004. Most of the growth occurred at the Geelong Waterfront Campus (up 84%) and the Melbourne campuses (up 25%).
In 2005, 57% of students enrolled at Deakin were female, comparable to the figure in the previous five years.
Deakin had the highest percentage of Indigenous students of any Victorian university in 2004.
Postgraduate student places at Deakin increased by 79% in the five years to 2004. More than half of this growth was in on-campus and full-time studies.
More than 22% of students who entered an undergraduate course at Deakin in 2004 were admitted on the basis of previous TAFE studies, the highest proportion of any Australian university.
In 2004, there were 7224 course completions at Deakin, an increase of 25% on 1999.
The type of course with the largest increase in course completions between 1999 and 2004 was masters degree by coursework, which rose by 722 (152%). Deakin undergraduate course completions rose by 603 or 13% during the same period.