Edith Cowan University (ECU) is an Australian public university located in Perth, Western Australia. It was named after the first woman to be elected to an Australian Parliament, Edith Cowan, and is the only Australian university named after a woman.
ECU is situated in Western Australia, with more than 30,000 students at undergraduate and postgraduate level, approximately 6,000 of whom are international students originating from over 100 countries outside Australia.
ECU was granted university status in 1991 and was formed from an amalgamation of teachers' colleges with a history dating back to 1902 when the Claremont Teachers College was established, making ECU the modern descendant of the first institution of higher education in Western Australia.
The university offers more than 300 courses across two metropolitan campuses, in Mount Lawley and Joondalup, and a regional campus in the South West, Bunbury, 200 km south of Perth; many courses are also offered for study online. Additionally, the university has partnerships with several education institutions to conduct courses and programs offshore.
Divisions of note include the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), recognised as one of Australia's prestigious performing arts training academies; the School of Nursing and Midwifery, which offers the largest undergraduate nursing program in WA and the School of Education which offers the widest range of secondary teaching specialisations within WA. The university is the largest provider of Psychology and Community Studies courses in Western Australia. ECU is also home to the WA Screen Academy, one of Australia's leading film schools.
