The University is the largest tertiary institution in the NT, with campuses in the Darwin suburb of Casuarina, Palmerston, Alice Springs, Katherine and Nhulunbuy, and training centres in Jabiru, Tennant Creek and Yulara. CDU was formed in 2003 through a merger between the Northern Territory University, Alice Springs-based Centralian College, NT Rural College in Katherine, and the Menzies School of Health Research. Today, CDU offers a fresh approach to education, training, research and knowledge application. The University aspires to be internationally recognised as a centre for excellence in Indigenous and cross-cultural knowledge, tropical knowledge and desert knowledge. As a multi-sector education provider, CDU provides unique pathways for students, from school-based vocational training through to advanced research degrees. Here students are drawn from the local area, across Australia and overseas, consisting of Indigenous and international students, school leavers, and mature age people returning to study.