Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Established in 1974 with the passage of the Deakin University Act 1974, the university was named after the second Prime Minister of Australia, Alfred Deakin.
Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, Geelong Waterfront and Warrnambool, as well as the online Cloud Campus. Deakin also has learning centers in Dandenong, Craigieburn and Werribee, all in the state of Victoria. Deakin’s research activities are growing. 0.89% of Deakin's research is rated at or above world class. Its combined research funding increased from a $4.5 million in 1997 to a $47.2 million in 2015.
Deakin University consistently ranks highly in undergraduate student satisfaction; in the 2019 Student Experience Survey, Deakin had the fourth highest student satisfaction rating nationally, and the highest student satisfaction rating out of all Victorian universities. Deakin has had the highest undergraduate student satisfaction ratings out of all Victorian universities every year since 2010, and has consistently placed in the top two for highest postgraduate student satisfaction out of all Victorian universities every year since 2010; however, the satisfaction of postgraduate students varies from School to School.
Deakin University was formally established in 1974 with the passage of the Deakin University Act 1974. Deakin was Victoria's fourth university, the first to be established in regional Victoria and the first to specialize in distance education. Deakin University's first campus was established at Waurn Ponds. The University was the result of a merger between State College of Victoria, Geelong (formerly Geelong Teachers College) and the higher education courses of the Gordon Institute of Technology. Deakin enrolled its first students at Waurn Ponds in 1977.