James Cook University
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James Cook University (JCU) is a university based in Townsville, Queensland, Australia and was founded in 1970 as the first tertiary education institution in North Queensland. It is named after the British sea captain James Cook who popularised the discovery and potential colonial value of the east coast of Australia and whose exploratory vessel actually ran aground for repairs in North Queensland.
JCU's main campus moved from a small campus in the Townsville suburb of Pimlico to a very large allocated area of bush land in the suburb of Douglas, near the army base and the lee of Mount Stuart, during the early 1970s. It has a widely spread out area of buildings inbetween native managed bushland. Today, JCU comprises campuses in Townsville and Cairns and smaller centres in Mt. Isa, Thursday Island, and Mackay.
The university serves as a 'catchment area' for most students in the whole region and has been selling itself aggressively to international students from the Asia-Pacific region. Its student population is about 10,000.
The university is well known for its marine sciences, comparative genomics and engineering. In 2001 the university took in its first medical students in its new School of Medicine. The Douglas Campus is positioned alongside the new Townsville hospital.
JCU has had a consistently high reputation nationally despite its youth and small size. In 2004 it was the only Australian university not to raise it's student HECS fees despite the conservative federal government giving the go ahead of a 25% national rise.
External links
James Cook University home page (http://www.jcu.edu.au)