Association of Commonwealth Universities

History

In 1912, the University of London took the initiative to assemble 53 representatives of universities in London to hold a Congress of Universities of the Empire. They decided they needed a "bureau of information". Its affairs would be handled by a committee representing universities at home and abroad. In 1913 the office opened as the Universities Bureau of the British Empire. They incorporated under licence of the Board of Trade in 1919 and received a grant of £5000 to operate an office premises, with the understanding that the universities of the Empire would fund its maintenance. In 1948 the name was changed to Association of Universities of the British Commonwealth, and in 1963 it changed to its current name.

Anastasios Christodoulou was the Secretary General of the Association of Commonwealth Universities from 1980 to 1996.

In 1986, Queen Elizabeth II became patron of the Association of Commonwealth Universities. In 2019, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex became patron of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, a role which she held until February 2021. King Charles III was announced as the organisation's patron in May 2024.

Membership

Currently 40 countries from the Commonwealth are represented in the Association.

Criteria

Member universities are divided into full and associate categories, with the latter not holding voting rights. Full members must:

Be legally incorporated and based in the Commonwealth, or have chosen to retain membership in the ACU when the country where they are based left the Commonwealth.

Be authorised to provide higher education.

Hold their own degree awarding powers.

Have at least 250 full time equivalent students, of which over half are studying at degree level.

Have graduated at least one cohort of students.

The criteria for associate membership are similar, except that the requirement to be able to award their own degrees is replaced by a requirement that their students may be awarded degrees of another institution under a franchise, license or other collaborative agreement, and that the institution whose degrees are being awarded is itself eligible for full membership of the ACU and is located in the Commonwealth.

List of Commonwealth Universities (ACU)

Charles Sturt University

Curtin University

Edith Cowan University

Griffith University

Macquarie University

Murdoch University

RMIT University

University of Adelaide

University of Newcastle

University of Canberra

University of Melbourne

University of Southern Queensland

University of Sydney

University of Tasmania

University of the Sunshine Coast

University of Wollongong

University of New South Wales

Western Sydney University

Asian University for Women

Gazipur Agricultural University (Bengali: গাজীপুর কৃষি বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় (গাকৃবি))

Bangladesh Agricultural University (Bengali: বাংলাদেশ কৃষি বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়)

Bangladesh Open University (Bengali: বাংলাদেশ উন্মুক্ত বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়)