Nepean College of Advanced Education was an Australian higher education institution (

College of Advanced Education The College of Advanced Education (CAE) was a class of Australian tertiary education institution that existed from 1967 until the early 1990s. They ranked below universities, but above Colleges of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) which offer t ...

) from 1973 to 1989. It was formed on 5 November 1973 by the amalgamation of the Westmead Teachers' College, which had opened in 1969, and the under-construction Kingswood College of Advanced Education, which had only been incorporated that March. It had two campuses: one at Kingswood and one at Westmead, the latter divided into two sites 500 metres apart. It initially operated from the Westmead campus while construction continued on the Kingswood campus, which eventually opened in February 1977. It expanded beyond its original teaching offerings, introducing a School of Business in 1976, and offering its first degree qualification, a Bachelor of Business, in 1977; a diploma of visual and performing arts was also introduced by 1980. A co-operative program in applied science, conducted in partnership with the

New South Wales Institute of Technology The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 202 ...

, was established in the 1980s. By 1984, it had four divisions: the School of Business, School of Teacher Education, School of the Arts and Centre for Applied Science, and a student population of about 2,100, rising to 2,900 in 1986. A School of Nursing opened in 1984. The college acquired the former St Vincent's Boys' Home at Westmead in 1985; thereafter the previous Westmead campus became "Westmead South" and the new buildings "Westmead North". In 1986, the college purchased additional land at Westmead from the Marist Brothers, after which it sold the original ("Westmead South") campus, which was now in a deteriorating state, to the Department of Education. In the years prior to its amalgamation, it faced conflict over various merger proposals and problems caused by rapidly rising demand in Western Sydney for its courses met with inadequate funding. A shortage of campus space had forced it to lease commercial premises to accommodate 100 visual arts students. By its final year, 1988, it was being threatened with losing its Australian Society of Accountants accreditation due to severe staff shortages. In 1985, Premier

Neville Wran Neville Kenneth Wran, (11 October 1926 – 20 April 2014) was an Australian politician who was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 to 1986. He was the national president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1980 to 1986 and chairman of ...

initiated a Higher Education Board inquiry into higher education in

Western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

, headed by Ron Parry. The report recommended the amalgamation of the Nepean College of Advanced Education and the

Hawkesbury Agricultural College Hawkesbury Agricultural College was the first agricultural college in New South Wales, Australia, based in Richmond. It operated from 1891 to 1989. It was established on 10 March 1891, and formally opened by Minister for Mines and Agriculture ...

to form a new university. The state government gave effect to the report's recommendations in the ''University of Western Sydney Act 1988'', and the college formally amalgamated into the new

University of Western Sydney Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, Australia. The university in its current form was founded in 1989 as a federated network u ...

from 1 January 1989. It thereafter became the university's Nepean campus in UWS' federal structure.

References

{{reflist Defunct universities and colleges in Australia Predecessor institutions of Western Sydney University Colleges of Advanced Education Educational institutions established in 1973 Educational institutions disestablished in 1989 1973 establishments in Australia 1989 disestablishments in Australia