Leadership disarray at the Australian National University has cost tens of thousands of dollars in enrolments and donations despite the institution pleading with major benefactors for financial help.
Reputational damage had been quantified at a much higher $100 million to the end of 2025, interim vice-chancellor Rebekah Brown told a Senate committee.
"It is very significant. We are still modelling the impact," she said in Canberra on Friday.
Early analysis showed international student recruitment and the university's donor pipeline had fallen significantly since concerns were first raised about Professor Brown's predecessor, Genevieve Bell.
The university in late 2024 approved a $250 million cost-cutting program with little evidence of whether it was needed or could even be achieved, a government audit found this week.
