The rankings, which look at the globe’s leading universities, placed La Trobe’s Hospitality and Tourism in the top 75 in the world. Tourism is now a key driver of the Australian economy; more valuable to the economy than coal or rural exports. One in 12 Australians currently work in the tourism industry, which is worth $120 billion and contributes $53 billion to Australia’s GDP.
Acting Vice Chancellor, Professor Keith Nugent, said: “This result underlines the world-class education La Trobe University provides. It is vital for a University to prepare career-ready graduates in growing sectors of the economy, which is a particular commitment of La Trobe University.”
La Trobe’s Nursing also scored highly with a ranking in the top 100. With longer life expectancy and unprecedented, continuous population growth in Australia, healthcare is booming.
“Healthcare is another growing industry needing job-ready graduates,” said Professor Nugent. “Both private and public health provision are sectors that are booming and these rankings indicate the excellent teaching quality of the University on a world-scale.”
Finance, the largest contributor to the national economy, and Agricultural Sciences both featured in the top 200. La Trobe University’s AgriBio facility is the largest agricultural Research & Development organisation in Victoria. Its work with a major State Government Department focuses on food security by improving productivity and sustainability, fighting disease and reducing environmental impacts.
“Food security is one of the most important issues on the planet, so it is tremendous to be at the forefront of that at La Trobe with the incredible facilities in our state-of-the-art AgriBio building.
“These rankings are affirmation of our commitment to produce graduates who are not just employable but also change-makers and innovators.”
