STUDY IN GOLD COAST
What's in this student city guide?
Quick facts about Gold Coast
📍 State
Queensland
📆 Established
1948
🌆 Area
9990 km2
👪 Population
630,000+
🌥 Climate
Humid Sub-Tropical
👋 Welcome to Gold Coast
Gold Coast’s world-class university facilities and education standards with near-perfect weather, wonderful lifestyle and multicultural environment makes it a perfect place to study.
Here is a student guide about study in Gold Coast. We hope you enjoy reading it.
Reasons to Study in Gold Coast
🏆 Student Community
There are more than 29,000 overseas students from over 130 countries currently studying in the city of Gold Coast making it a very diverse student community.
💰 Affordable fees
The housing is not as cheap but the university costs are certainly very affordable and most of the public universities provide a great range of courses which makes the decision easier.
👔 Employment opportunities
Overseas Students can easily find part-time and casual throughout the year to improve the skills and support the work experience while studying in Gold Coast.
🎒 Great Education
Gold coast has some of the world class universities offering a variety of courses and some of them are consistently ranked as No. 1 in the student experience.
🎢 Lifestyle
Gold Coast gets more than 300 days of sunshine with an average temperature of 29 degrees. It has been awarded as the best beach-side city to study in the world.
🏊 Golden Beaches
Gold Coast is named so for a reason: it has golden sand beaches which are perfect for surfing. Fancy studying already? There is more to it
💡 Did you know?
Gold Coast welcomes more than 13 million visitors every year from all around the world.
Universities and Vocational Education in Gold Coast
🏛 Universities in Gold Coast
Here is a list of Gold Coast based universities in Australia:
Bond University is Australia’s first private not-for-profit university and is located in Robina, Gold Coast, Queensland. Since its opening in 1989, it has primarily been a teaching-focused higher education institution. It is also famous for its legal education, which ranks top 3 in Australia in terms of graduate employment rate.
📒 Universities with Satellite campus
You can also choose to study in the satellite campus of Griffith University, Central Queensland University and Southern Cross University in Gold Coast
✍ TAFE and other education providers
Students have a choice of study at Tafe Queensland and other private education providers to study vocational education and English programs.
Monthly Cost of Living in Gold Coast
🏠 Rent
$750
🍔 Food
$500
🚌 Transport
$150
🔌 Utilities
$100
🎉 Others
$100
💵 Total
$1600
⚠ Disclaimer
The prices are expressed in Australian Dollars for each month. The figures are for single student in a shared living setting. The figures are gathered from various sources, talking with students, our team experiences and provide general guidelines. The cost of living in Gold Coast can vary based on your lifestyle, type of accommodation, personal choice and many other factors.
Transport in Gold Coast
📌 How to get to city from Gold Coast airport?
Gold Coast Airport (Coolangatta) is 20 kms from the Gold Coast city. It is the second busiest airport in Queensland after Brisbane airport.
Many travellers also arrive at Gold Coast via Brisbane airport. You can take train from Brisbane airport to arrive in Gold Coast.
You can catch public transport bus no. 777 and no. 760 from airport to city, run by Translink. It costs $6 to reach Surfers Paradise from the airport using this service.
Other methods for transfers from Gold Coast airport includes shuttle bus, taxi or ride sharing service like Uber etc.
🚌 Public Transport
Gold Coast’s public transport system includes trains, trams and buses. Mostly, people prefer buses and trams when travelling within the Gold Coast and trains when travelling to Brisbane and other cities in Queensland.
Like Brisbane, to travel on public transport, you will need to have a Go Card and touch it as you get on and off any public transport mode.
You can by the Go Card from various outlets from $10.
🚖 Other Transport & Concessions
You are entitled to concession fares when using public transport in Gold Coast as an international student.
Bicycles are a very popular method of getting around in Gold Coast as well with more than 800 km of bikeways connecting Gold Coast’s key corridors.
As a popular tourist destination, you can choose chartered cars, buses and shuttles to travel around Gold Coast.
💡 Did you know?
Gold Coast is home to the largest subtropical rainforest remnant in the world.
Key Events During The Year in Gold Coast
🏇 January
The Magic Millions Horse Race Carnival
The world’s richest sales based incentive horse race is held in Gold Coast, with only horses bought at Magic Millions Sale auction (hence the name).
🚤 May
Sanctuary Cove Boat Show
This exhibition showcases world class yachts, boats, trailers, marine tech and more from a wide variety of brands and exhibitors over 4 days.
📢 July
Gold Coast Airport Marathon
Held on the first Sunday of July, Gold Coast marathon is one of the only two marathons in Australia to hold the premier International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Gold Label status.
🚩 Nov - Dec
Australian PGA Championship
This championship is part of the PGA golf tournament of Australasia, dating all the way back to 1905. However, it came to the Queensland region only at the start of the 21st century.
🏎 October
Gold Coast 600
This annual racing event for the Supercars Championship is held at Surfers Paradise Street Circuit over the course of a three-day weekend.
Free Things to do in Gold Coast
🌴 Hinterland
Golden Coast has some of the most exotic and Instagrammable natural sights you can find. From rainforests to waterfalls, you will find most diverse landscapes at different national parks, like Lamington National Park or Burleigh Head National Park, which don’t charge you any entry fee
🏊 World Famous Beaches
Gold Coast is renowned all around the globe for its golden beaches and clear blue waters. Apart from Surfers Paradise, you get beaches like Main Beach, Burleigh Heads, Mermaid Beach, Kurrawa Beach, Miami beach and more going top to bottom.
🎭 Art & Culture
Discover the works of some of the Gold Coast’s best and most promising artists at Robina art gallery or learn about the history of the early settlers in the region at Gold Coast Historic Museum in Bundall.
🌳 O’Reilly’s Tree Top Walk
First of its kind in Australia, this walkway is composed of nine suspension bridges and two observation decks and passes through blooming trees, vines, and orchids, and lets you see the birds and animals at treetop.
🎪 Local Markets
Although the convenience of a shopping mall is available most of the times, window shopping at local markets is quite an experience in itself. Survey the local stalls at Surfers Paradise or go for arts and crafts markets on the beachfront including at Burleigh, Miami, and Coolangatta.
🏁 Other places to explore
Apart from the list above, there are many other places to explore and visit in Gold Coast. Here are some of them:
Gold Coast
Melbourne
Perth
Adelaide
Sydney
Darwin
Brisbane
Canberra
Hobart
Newcastle
Geelong
Wollongong
Sunshine Coast
Cairns