More than 300 more secondary school graduates have the chance to take on degree courses next month thanks to a new Victoria University initiative.
The new VU learning pathway has boosted first-round offers through the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) by 7 per cent by taking advantage of the institute’s joint TAFE and university status.
Business course offers rose by 25 per cent, ‘law’ offers rose by 17 per cent and ‘arts’ by 15 per cent. Vocational education and training (VET) offers jumped by 27 per cent.
Vice-chancellor Peter Dawkins said the change was in line with VU’s goal of giving all determined students a chance.
“With different exit points, students can leave with a qualification that suits their career aspiration,” Professor Dawkins said.
“We have both higher education and VET programs for students who want to be well prepared for trades and para-professional roles, but many VET students choose to progress into higher education after their VET program.”
Professor Dawkins said courses such as the diploma of business enterprise, diploma of IT or diploma of education studies could help set students on the right pathway to enrol in a degree course.
“We believe a student’s strengths can’t be ranked and that a relatively low ATAR does not have to be a barrier to a student realising their aim, if they’re prepared to work hard,” he said.
“But we also offer courses for students with higher ATARs, which some students entering with lower ATARs may wish to transfer into, if and when we’re confident that they are suitably prepared.”
VU’s new provost Kerri-Lee Krause said evidence showed structured support in the first year helped undergraduates with lower ATARs to perform at the same level as more highly ranked students in second year.
“Nearly half our students are mature-age. We have one of the most diverse, multicultural cohorts of any university, and we operate in an area affected substantially by structural changes in the labour market,” Professor Krause said in support of the new VU model.
