SAE College Sydney

The SAE Institute (SAE) and SAE University College (in Australia), formerly the School of Audio Engineering and the SAE Technology College and badged SAE Creative Media Education, is a network of colleges around the world that provides creative media programmes. Founded in 1976 in Sydney, Australia, by Tom Misner, SAE was purchased in 2012 by Navitas Limited, a private Australian education services company. In 2022 Navitas sold SAE operations in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe to AD Education, part of Ardian a France-based independent private equity investment company. Navitas retained its SAE Creative Media Institute operations in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US alongside its network of licensed education partners operating under the SAE brand in other parts of the world. In 2023, SAE Creative Media Institute in Australia became a University College.

History

SAE was established by Tom Misnner in 1976 in Sydney, converting a small advertising studio into a classroom. Over the next six years, campuses in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth were established. In the mid-1980s, SAE began opening colleges outside of Australia, including locations in London, Munich, Frankfurt, Vienna, Berlin, Auckland, and Glasgow. In the 1990s, SAE opened a European head office in Amsterdam, and locations were opened in Paris, Hamburg, Zürich, Hobart, Cologne, Stockholm, Athens, and Milan. SAE also began expanding into Asia in the 1990s, opening locations in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. In the late 1990s, SAE formed the SAE Entertainment Company and launched full university degree programs with the co-operation of Southern Cross University and Middlesex University. In 1999, SAE began opening facilities in the United States, and over the following decade opened locations in Nashville, Miami, San Francisco, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Chicago. In 2000, SAE began licensing franchise schools in India, opening four that year. In 2000s, locations were opened in Liverpool, Madrid, Brussels, Bangkok, Leipzig, Barcelona, Dubai, Amman, Cape Town, Istanbul, and Serbia. Licence agreements were signed for new schools in Qatar, Bogotá Colombia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The Dubai branch offers degree certification accredited by Middlesex University. In the 2000s SAE also acquired QANTM, an Australian production, media and training company, and relocated its head office to Littlemore Park, Oxford, and its headquarters to Byron Bay, Australia.

In 2010, the SAE Institute was sold to Navitas, a publicly traded educational services company. Over the next few years, new locations were opened in Romania, Jakarta, and Moskhato. Navitas began taking over the US campuses in 2011, and laid off over 40 US employees in 2014.

In 2022 Navitas announced the sale of part of its creative media institute, SAE, to AD Education (part of Europe’s leading private investment house, Ardian). Ardian purchased the SAE operations in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe. Navitas retained SAE operations in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US alongside its network of licensed education partners operating under the SAE brand in other parts of the world.

On the 22 December 2023, the Australian operation SAE Creative Media Institute Australia became a University College.

On 16 July 2024, staff at all six Australian campuses of SAE-Qantm went on strike against pay and conditions.

SAE Online

SAE Online, formerly SAE Graduate college, was an unaccredited, distance learning, proprietary