Council’s acting general manger, Julie Hately, said councillors were considering options that could be put to the University of Sydney that would be of mutual benefit to both organisations and the community.
"Such options are likely to address university participation rates of disadvantaged young people from Liverpool, as this is an area of identified mutual concern to council and the university," she said.
"Other issues that could be raised include recognition of overseas qualifications due to the high number of residents from overseas living in Liverpool, and increasing the low participation rates of Liverpool's labour force."
Ms Hately said in a local newspaper consideration would also be given to recommending that a specialised campus be established in Liverpool to complement the growing biomedical precinct and the university's medical program.
A University of Western Sydney spokesman said UWS was not at present interested in establishing a Liverpool campus, but was committed to making university accessible to more people, particularly those from disadvantaged or lower socio-economic backgrounds.
"We currently have two campuses within 20 minutes of Liverpool," the spokesman said. "About 23 per cent of UWS enrolments are students from low socio-economic backgrounds and 12 per cent of current UWS domestic enrolments, 300 students, are from the Liverpool local government area." He said this figure was expected to grow as the university moved to increase its total student population to 50,000 within the decade.
"The UWS School of Medicine has a number of academic teams based in Liverpool, including surgery, pathology, medical oncology, microbiology and infectious disease," he said.
"UWS is also a formal partner in the Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research based in Liverpool Hospital grounds."
