State funding for student accommodation
Student enrolment levels at La Trobe University's Bendigo campus are set to rise following the announcement of the Tertiary Education Opportunities package for regional Victoria.
Transcript
- Narration:
Student enrolment levels at La Trobe University's Bendigo campus are set to rise following the announcement of the Tertiary Education Opportunities package for regional Victoria. According to Premier John Brumby, the 103.6 million dollar project will create thousands of extra tertiary positions in Victoria's regional universities.
- John Brumby:
We've set a target to lift the number of student enrolments in higher education by 10%; that'll see 22,000 extra young people across country Victoria given the opportunity to study in the regions. And that's what we want to achieve, and that's what we want to see.
- Narration:
Under the Tertiary Education Opportunities package, 75 million dollars will be set aside for the construction of student accommodation in regional centres. La Trobe's regional campuses are likely to benefit with a 300-unit student accommodation block being slated for construction in Bendigo.
- John Brumby:
In Bendigo at the moment you've got a booming city, booming population, you've got a vacancy rate in private rental accommodation of less than 1 per cent, so we need to see more of that accommodation.
- Andrew Skewes:
Bendigo's a growing campus; we had an additional 400 students enrol this year over last year and we'll expect that level of enrolment to be maintained. The needs of the campus are particularly for accommodation but we also need additional teaching and learning spaces within the campus; we need to revitalise our library; we need to upgrade our exercise and sports infrastructure; so we have a range of investments that we're currently considering for the campus.
- Narration:
With the establishment of the La Trobe Rural Health School and the School of Dentistry and Oral Health in the last year, demand for student accommodation in Bendigo is at an all time high.
- Andrew Skewes:
In Bendigo and Wodonga in particular we need more student beds. We're currently over-subscribed in the number of beds that we have on offer and we turn students away. So the chance for us to put together a proposal for additional student beds, particularly for Bendigo and Wodonga, is something we would pursue.
- Narration:
The new funding will ensure that regional universities continue to be a viable option for tertiary students.
- John Brumby:
The reality is, the best way to help students in regional Victoria is to increase the opportunities on regional campuses so that students don't have to study in Melbourne and pay the very high costs there.
- Andrew Skewes:
The evidence is that first year students in particular need and look for supportive accommodation. Around 60% of our students come from a non-Bendigo address and that's a large number when we have over 4000 students and Bendigo is a very tight market for residential accommodation so the more we can accommodate on campus, particularly in their early years; it means we can offer more places, we can grow the campus and they'll be more likely to be successful if we bring them into supported accommodation.
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