University of Sydney posts a massive $353m surplus in 2023

The University of Sydney earned nearly $1.5bn from international students last year, pushing it to a massive $353m surplus.

University of Sydney vice-chancellor Mark Scott. Picture John Grainger

The University of Sydney earned almost $1.5bn from international students last year, pushing it to a $353m surplus, more than twice as large as any other Australian ­university.

But the university has set aside $70m to cover possible pay errors to staff, as it continues to comb through 10 years of records to check payments were correct.

The university’s annual report, released on Monday, said it estimated staff were owed $70.1m at December 31 last year, based on analysing a sample of payments extrapolated over the 2014-2023 period which is under scrutiny.

The University of Sydney has already repaid staff $12.75m for wage underpayments over this period, a restitution which was announced in 2021. The annual report said that $1.9m in wage repayments were made in 2023

Vice-chancellor Mark Scott said the university deeply regretted any underpayments that had occurred. “Paying our people correctly and remediating any historical underpayments is our absolute priority and we are ­devoting considerable resources to making it happen as quickly as possible,” he said.

Bolstered by its popularity with high fee paying Chinese students, the University of Sydney’s international student fee revenue rose to $1.46bn in 2023, its fifth consecutive year above $1bn – a threshold no other Australian university has reached for annual international student earnings.

All 10 NSW universities reported their 2023 financial results on Monday and Sydney was the only one to report a surplus, although the University of Newcastle was in balance.

Most NSW universities reported a deteriorating position in 2023.

Western Sydney University’s deficit grew from $10m in 2022 to a deficit of $143m in 2023, Macquarie University’s 2022 deficit of $43m grew to a deficit of $82m in 2023, the University of Wollongong’s 2022 after tax deficit of $28m expanded to a deficit of $95m in 2023 and the UTS deficit of $71m in 2022 grew to a deficit of $120m in 2023.

The University of NSW, which also has very healthy numbers of Chinese students and earned international student fee revenue of $878m in 2023, improved its position, moving from a deficit of $169m in 2022 to a deficit of $77m.

Aside from the University of Sydney, across Australia the only universities with surpluses over $100m are the University of Melbourne ($147m) and the University of Queensland ($126m), both of which also attract large numbers of Chinese students.

The University of Sydney’s $353m surplus in 2023 follows a $302m surplus in 2022 and the extraordinary $1.05 billion surplus in 2021, built on its success in keeping Chinese students studying online in China when the closed border prevented them coming to Australia during Covid.

“At Sydney, we are fortunate to have been able to build a solid future fund to support our research and education, and our staff and students,” Professor Scott said.

He said the university was investing in research through its Horizon research fellowships and teaching through its Horizon educators scheme, as well as developing its research infrastructure.