The University of Sydney would hand over $70 million a year for 10 years to bankroll the federal government’s infrastructure fund, while the University of Divinity would fork out just $164,000.

An analysis of university balance sheets by The Australian Financial Review reveals that just six universities – Sydney, Melbourne, Monash, University of NSW, University of Queensland and RMIT – would contribute half of all the money to go into the fund on an annual basis.