For the international student cohort planning a 2025 Australian intake, mapping the total cost of a two-year master’s degree is an exercise in overlaying university fee schedules onto city-level living-expense guides. Study NSW’s most recent cost-of-living estimate for a single student in Sydney sits at A$35,000 per annum; the Victorian government’s equivalent benchmark for Melbourne comes to A$30,000; and Queensland’s international student handbook for Brisbane suggests A$26,000. These medians already create a gap of A$9,000 per year before tuition enters the calculation. This comparison uses the Master of Information Technology — consistently one of the highest-demand postgraduate programs — as a standardized lens to show how geographic choice reshapes a two-year budget.
Tuition fee landscape: Master of Information Technology, 2025 intake
University fee pages for the 2025 academic year lock in the first major cost variable. Examining the three cities through a single program reveals a spread that narrows or widens depending on institution brand and program structure.
Sydney
- University of Sydney (USYD): A$53,000 per year, based on the 2025 international tuition schedule for the Master of Information Technology.
- UNSW Sydney: A$49,500 per year, as published in the 2025 fee handbook.
- University of Technology Sydney (UTS): A$46,000 per year for the Master of IT (Extension).
- Macquarie University: A$42,000 per year, offering a lower-cost Sydney alternative.
Melbourne
- University of Melbourne: A$51,000 per year for the Master of Information Technology.
- Monash University: A$46,000 per year, with a curriculum closely mirroring the Go8 offerings.
Brisbane
- University of Queensland (UQ):