The student community and environment at Griffith University has changed significantly since 1975. Griffith University has grown from a one campus institution (Nathan) to a five campus institution (Nathan, Gold Coast, Mt Gravatt, Logan, and South Bank which incorporates the Queensland Conservatorium and Queensland College of Art). The first teaching year number of 451 students has been dwarfed by the nearly 50,000 students that now study at our University across our campuses and digitally.

The marked changes in technology and business practices has seen the University evolve in ways that have changed the student experience. An outdoor tutorial conducted in 1975 may now have been replaced by a wiki discussion/collaboration. A common room discussion between foundation lecturers and students in the early years may take on a different form today by utilising a 'blog' or twitter. And unlike the foundation students, Griffith University students today can now complete their tertiary studies without ever having stepped foot on a campus or inside a lecture theatre.

While the student experience nearly 40 years on has been changed by both internal and external factors, the ideals established by the University's Interim Council of inclusion, fair and equitable access to education, and creative alternative educational programs, still exist today. In 2012, there were over 7,500 more female than male students enrolled, and the number of scholarships and bursaries offered to those considered to be from disadvantaged backgrounds increased significantly and continues to increase.

2012 also saw the formation of the Student Success Unit which was established to oversee amongst other things, the expansion of existing mentoring programs and develop a student leadership program to promote increased student involvement in University activities.

Griffith University students in the future will be able to mix and match their modes of study which would see them free to choose what parts of their course they study online, and those subjects they would like to study on-campus. A quality student experience is central to the organisation's continued growth and success, and Griffith University will continue to offer its students innovative, challenging courses. The organisation will preserve its values of inclusiveness and fair access to education for all by remaining a people's university.