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$3.25 million partnership to increase university access to local students

Friday, 02 December 2011

Minister for Higher Education and Skills Peter Hall and Member for Benambra Bill Tilley today announced the Victorian Coalition Government would contribute almost $2 million to a University of Melbourne led project to increase access and boost the quality of higher education and training for regional students.

Mr Hall and Mr Tilley made the announcement at Wodonga TAFE during a tour of the region.

The project will see the University of Melbourne lead a consortium of two regional TAFE institutes to develop a program, which will see year 12 students completing diplomas they will be able to use as credit towards a degree at the University of Melbourne.

Up to 575 students are expected to benefit from the program by 2016.

The funding is part of the Victorian government's $20 million Regional Partnership Facilitation Fund designed to increase alliances between universities and Vocational Education and Training providers in rural and regional Victoria.

Mr Hall said funding for the Regional Partnerships Facilitation Fund was being provided through the Victorian Government's $1 billion Regional Growth Fund.

Mr Hall said the facilitation fund delivered on the government's commitment to increase educational opportunities and quality education for rural and regional students.

"I am pleased to announce the University of Melbourne, together with Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE, and Wodonga TAFE are working together to deliver this great new program," Mr Hall said.

"Access to tertiary education and the opportunities it offers are important to Victoria's ongoing social and economic development."

Mr Tilley said data showed young people in regional Victoria had fallen behind their metropolitan counterparts in a number of key areas, including attaining a higher education qualification and enrolment at university.

"We have also seen a significant rise in the number of regional students who defer university studies," Mr Tilley said.

Census data shows 11 per cent of people in regional Victoria have obtained a higher education qualification, while in metropolitan Melbourne the figure is 20 per cent.

Similarly, data from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development shows only 37 per cent of regional students completing year 12 enrol in university the following year, while the rate for metropolitan students is 54 per cent.

Mr Tilley praised the partnership between the University of Melbourne, Wodonga TAFE and GOTAFE, saying it would make a major contribution in helping pave the way for more local students to access higher education and training.

In 2011 the Victorian Government will make a record investment of around $1.2 billion in vocational education and training, and this is expected to increase to around $1.3 billion in 2012.

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