RMIT vs ACU Melbourne: Which Is Right for You in 2027?
RMIT vs ACU Melbourne: Which Is Right for You in 2027?
Introduction
If RMIT and Australian Catholic University (ACU) are both on your list, you're looking at two inner-Melbourne campuses that feel nothing alike. RMIT's City campus is spread through the city centre; ACU Melbourne, the St Patrick's campus, sits on Victoria Parade in Fitzroy.
The bigger difference is what each teaches. RMIT is a huge dual-sector uni (TAFE-level courses as well as degrees) strong in design, IT, engineering and business. ACU Melbourne is built around health, teaching, psychology, law and the arts, with ethics units in every degree. Where they don't overlap, your course decides.
The short version
- Lean RMIT for engineering, IT or a specialist design degree. ACU has no engineering, and its IT degree is taught at North Sydney or online.
- Lean ACU Melbourne if you're set on nursing, midwifery, paramedicine, occupational therapy, speech pathology or teaching.
- Lean RMIT if you want a TAFE diploma that leads into a degree.
- Lean ACU Melbourne for one compact campus rather than dozens of city buildings.
- Lean ACU if ethics units, community work and a possible stint in Rome appeal.
1. Overview and Reputation
On world rankings RMIT is well ahead, equal 119th in QS 2027 against ACU's 851 to 900 band. But on QILT, 80.5 per cent of ACU undergraduates rated their overall experience positively, above the national 76.5 per cent. So RMIT has the higher ranking and the bigger operation, and ACU Melbourne is the smaller, more focused one. Which matters more depends on your course.
RMIT began as the Working Men's College in 1887 and became a university in 1992. It's an Australian Technology Network member, and it's enormous: about 99,000 students in 2024 across every sector and country, about 39,000 of them domestic higher education students.
In Australia it has three campuses (City, Bundoora and Brunswick), and City is the heart of it. It came equal 119th in the QS World University Rankings 2027 (10th in Australia). If your course is on the City campus, your week happens in the middle of Melbourne.
ACU is a national Catholic university, formed in 1991 when four Catholic colleges merged. It has about 35,000 students (2025) across seven Australian campuses, plus one in Rome.
This article is about ACU Melbourne, the St Patrick's campus in Fitzroy: 19 of 22 ACU bachelor's degrees we sampled for 2027 are taught there, the most of any ACU campus. ACU sat in the 851 to 900 band in QS 2027, but on QILT data 80.5 per cent of its undergraduates rated their overall experience positively, above the national 76.5 per cent (uni-wide, not Melbourne-only).
QS World University Rankings 2027: equal 119th (10th in Australia)
Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2027: equal 239th (13th in Australia)
Student experience: 73.2% of undergraduates rate their overall educational experience positively (national average 76.5%)
Graduate employment: 64.7% of undergraduate graduates looking for full-time work had found it (national average 76.2%)
Graduate median salary: $69,800 for undergraduate graduates in full-time work (national average $74,000)
QS World University Rankings 2027: 851 to 900 band (equal 33rd in Australia)
Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2027: 401 to 450 band (equal 26th in Australia)
Student experience: 80.5% of undergraduates rate their overall educational experience positively (national average 76.5%)
Graduate employment: 81% of undergraduate graduates looking for full-time work had found it (national average 76.2%)
Graduate median salary: $73,100 for undergraduate graduates in full-time work (national average $74,000)
2. Academic Focus and Teaching Style
RMIT is the place to make, build and code, with TAFE-to-degree routes if you need another way in. ACU Melbourne is set up for people-focused professions, with ethics and community work built into every degree. Want IT, engineering or a specialist design degree such as graphic or digital design? RMIT is the realistic option of the two. Want nursing, paramedicine or teaching on one compact campus? ACU Melbourne has them.
RMIT is one of the few Australian unis that teaches TAFE-level certificates and diplomas as well as degrees. That matters if your ATAR doesn't land where you hoped: Packaged Pathways let you apply once for a diploma that leads straight into a related degree.
The year runs on two semesters, and many degrees take students in February and July. Graphic design, digital design and IT degrees are on the City campus, and fashion and textiles live at Brunswick. Expect to make things: the Bachelor of Digital Design, for example, ends with a capstone project for industry partners.
RMIT suits you if you learn best by building, coding or making.
ACU runs two semesters; in 2027, Semester 1 classes start on 1 March. Many courses take a midyear intake too, but Nursing and Paramedicine don't in 2027.
What sets ACU apart is the Core Curriculum: every degree includes two units from ethics, philosophy and theology (such as Ethics and the Good Life) plus a community engagement unit tied to your course. Every ACU student can also study at the Rome campus.
ACU Melbourne suits you if you're aiming at health, teaching or psychology, and you're curious about big questions as well as your major.
3. Research and Global Impact
RMIT University
For an undergraduate, RMIT's research shows up mostly as industry contact: its design school names partners such as ACMI and the NGV. It also has campuses in Vietnam and a centre in Barcelona.
ACU Melbourne
ACU's global piece is the Rome campus, which every student can use. Its page doesn't say whether that means a semester or a shorter stay, so ask how it works for your course.
4. Campus Life and Student Experience
A day in the life at...
RMIT University
Australian Catholic University
RMIT University
The City campus is woven into the city centre rather than set behind a fence. Brunswick, about 6 km north, is the creative outpost, with a print room and a workshop of laser cutters and 3D printers. RUSU, the student union, says it has over 90 clubs. The feel: a uni that blends into the city, great if you want work, food and events on your doorstep, less great if you want a lawn to lie on between classes.
ACU Melbourne
The Fitzroy campus is about 600 m from Parliament Station, with six tram routes nearby, and has a rooftop sports court. ACU says each campus has plenty of clubs and societies, but the list sits behind the student login, so there's no public count. The feel: a compact campus where you'll keep running into the same faces, which some students love and others find small.
5. Student Support and Wellbeing
On QILT's student survey data, 73.7 per cent of ACU undergraduates rated their student support positively, against 68.2 per cent at RMIT and a national average of 71.2 per cent. ACU is ahead, but at both, help works best when you find it early.
RMIT University
Counselling is free and short term, and Equitable Learning Services supports students with a disability or health condition. Peer Mentoring links you with a student who recently finished your course. The Ngarara Willim Centre supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, and there's a Student Legal Service.
ACU Melbourne
Counselling is free, in person, online or by phone, with a 24-hour mental health line. Disability Advisors help you plan around a disability or chronic condition, and PASS runs study groups led by students. Jim-baa-yer supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students with free tutoring and study spaces.
6. Employability and Industry Connections
On QILT graduate survey data (via ComparED), 81 per cent of ACU's graduates looking for full-time work had found it, against 64.7 per cent at RMIT and a national 76.2 per cent. Median salaries were $73,100 and $69,800. That's a big gap, but both figures are uni-wide, so ask about your course.
RMIT University
Career Connect helps with resumes and interviews. RMIT says many courses include internships or work experience, but its pages don't promise one. IT students can add a year of work experience to a three-year degree, and there's a startup accelerator.
ACU Melbourne
ACU's careers service runs paid Student Jobs on Campus and stays open for two years after you finish. Professional degrees carry real placement hours: Nursing needs at least 800. ACU's pages don't promise an internship or job either.
Watch our unbiased, independent reviews for RMIT University and Australian Catholic University
7. Cost, Entry and Lifestyle
Getting in
Year 12s apply to both through VTAC, Victoria's admissions centre. Your selection rank is your ATAR plus any adjustment factors (bonus points for things like your subjects or school). VTAC's equity and scholarships deadline (SEAS) for 2027 closed on 9 October 2026, and late applications close on 30 October 2026.
- RMIT: the 2027 Guaranteed ATAR gets you in if you reach it (adjustments don't count), meet the prerequisites and put the course first among those you're eligible for, while places remain. Its 2027 guaranteed ATARs include Laws 88.00 and Business 70.00 (lowest selection ranks in Semester 1 2026: 86.00 and 67.00). Design and art degrees aren't on the list. There's no RMIT early offer scheme.
- ACU: the ACU Guarantee makes early offers from Year 11 results; applications for 2027 closed on 14 September 2026. At ACU Melbourne it excludes, among others, all Education degrees, Paramedicine and Psychology (Honours). Its selection rank profile shows lowest selection ranks at ACU Melbourne in Semester 1 2026 of 75.20 for Laws and 60.20 for Business. Missed out? Foundation Studies (you must be 18 by the census date) gives guaranteed entry to most ACU degrees if you meet the requirements.
What it costs
In a Commonwealth supported place (CSP), the government pays part of your fees and your capped share is the same at both. In 2026 it was $4,738 a year for Nursing and Education, $9,537 for Science, Computing and the creative arts, and $17,399 for Law and Business. HECS-HELP, a government loan, means you don't pay upfront. 2027 amounts aren't out yet.
- RMIT: a Study Support Scholarship (up to $3,000), an Accommodation Scholarship (up to $6,000 if you're moving to Melbourne or Bendigo) and the Dylan Alcott Foundation Scholarship (up to $15,000 for students with a disability or long-term condition); check with the uni for 2027.
- ACU: the 2027 round opened on 1 August 2026 and most awards close on 1 March 2027, including the George Alexander Foundation Scholarship ($25,000).
Where you'll live
- ACU: no housing of its own in Melbourne; its affiliated UniLodge buildings list public full-year 2027 rates of $444 to $684 a week at UniLodge Melbourne CBD (UniLodge's Melbourne City page) and $485 to $579 at UniLodge Melbourne Central, with utilities and Wi-Fi included.
- RMIT: its one affiliated residence is UniLodge @ RMIT Bundoora, where UniLodge's RMIT Bundoora page lists a room in a four-bedroom apartment at $285 a week (Full Year 2026 rate; no 2027 rates yet), with Wi-Fi, utilities and laundry included, and RMIT lists private buildings around the city.
International students: see ACU's international fees page; RMIT shows international fees on each course page.
8. Which One’s Right for You?
You might feel at home at RMIT if you:
- want engineering, IT, computer science, fashion or a specialist design degree
- like the city as your campus
- like having a TAFE-to-degree route in your back pocket
You might feel at home at ACU Melbourne if you:
- are set on nursing, midwifery, paramedicine, occupational therapy, speech pathology or teaching
- want a compact campus near Parliament Station
- like ethics and community engagement in your degree
- are tempted by study in Rome
Neither is the better uni. Start with your course: if only one teaches it in Melbourne, you have your answer. If both do, put the two course pages side by side, then walk from Parliament Station to Victoria Parade, wander RMIT's city blocks, and picture yourself at 9am on a wet Tuesday.
Here to help you choose the right uni
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