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It was almost exclusively fear of missing out, not interest in a two-hour lecture on jurisprudence, that propelled me onto Mona Vale Road to campus on a Friday afternoon.
Stay home and download the lecture – how would I make pals? There was no bar in my parents’ suburban home, either, so what fun could be had there?
Nearly two decades ago, I was not alone in ditching what was then the emerging technology that made remote learning possible in favour of an elderly South African academic – live and in person – for reasons totally extraneous to the study of the law.
Audrey Richardson
But life for students in 2026 looks different; cost-of-living pressures have forced them out of full-time university studies and sent them into the workforce while learning, even as the student experience has been hollowed out by online learning.
The outcome? A vicious cycle of fewer students on campus grounds, making in-person attendance even less appealing and leading universities to offer even fewer options on campus because of falling numbers.
All of this has culminated in what researchers have branded an epidemic of loneliness.
“It’s especially true of the last two years,” said Dr Weiyang Xiong, lead author of a study looking at the mental wellbeing of Australian university students. “The pandemic shift towards online learning has really affected students, some of whom are unwilling to return to face-to-face learning.”
Nineteen-year-old Leanne Baddah said that online learning saves her an hour-long trip to Macquarie University from her Bexley home several times a week.
“But it does make it harder to meet people,” the medical sciences student said.
“Most of my uni friends are friends from high school,” she said when asked if she expected to stay in touch with her cohort after graduating next year.
Student forums for every major university are heaving with posts asking how to make friends.
“I’ve been trying my best to get to know people but can’t seem to get past surface-level. The anxiety from having no friends is killing me,” one University of Sydney student wrote.
“Lowkenuinely wanna make more friends,” wrote another at UTS.
“Hello, I am a first-year at WSU … I’m looking for some friends,” a Western Sydney University student posted.
This is borne out in data: Xiong’s research from Flinders University last year found that 44 per cent of students reported some degree of psychological distress, while 93 per cent reported moderate to high levels of loneliness.
More than a personal problem, experts warn that loneliness among young people is a public health issue.
“Loneliness is highly correlated with depression and anxiety; it can contribute further to academic stress and lower academic results,” Xiong said.
Back at Macquarie for the first time in years, I revisited the scene of the jurisprudence lecture. The theatre’s capacity for 150 students wasn’t being troubled – they were all online.
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