The University of Sydney is the latest member of the Group of Eight universities to report an operating surplus for 2020 despite the border lockdowns, which cost the sector around $1.8 billion in total revenue. On Thursday, Vice-Chancellor Stephen Garton reported that the university had an operating surplus of $106.6 million (US$82.3 million) last year after cutting costs by $257 million. “This outcome means we are facing a more positive outlook than we had expected,” Garton said. The university gained stronger than expected international student enrollment from those who were willing to continue their studies online during the second semester of last year. This successful transition to online learning has then seen the semester one international enrolment for this year rise to 18 percent higher than semester one of last year. Domestic student enrolments were also up by 7.5 percent compared to last year as people whose job had been …