On Monday, May 12, La Trobe announced its Regional Growth Strategy, detailing three strategic pillars that will help it achieve this goal.
These pillars are targeting reformed education for regional learners, research that drives regional development, and multipurpose regional campuses.
It aims to increase full-time student enrolments from 4100 to 6700 by 2030, with a specific focus on filling workforce shortages in regional Victoria.
According to 2023 Department of Education statistics, participation rates of students who complete their VCE and go on to complete a university degrees are less than 20 per cent.
La Trobe Chancellor John Brumby said while this was mainly caused by issues relating to family history, distance and finances, one of the things the university was targeting in the pillars was raising funds for 1000 scholarships for regional students undertaking on-campus and hybrid courses.
“Scholarships, which we are going to develop and support over the next five years, are really crucial,” Mr Brumby said.
“We’ll be looking for the community and for businesses to support us in that endeavour, to raise the money to provide those scholarships to create the incentive and the opportunity for those students to participate in higher education.”
La Trobe will also prioritise partnerships with key industries in regional areas to create more local employment opportunities, and encourage graduates to build their careers in regional Victoria.
This aligns with the university’s efforts to double the amount of regional industry partners by 2030.
Jenna Hearn is a La Trobe alum, and works for the Committee for Greater Shepparton, an organisation that has and will continue to work with La Trobe to achieve this.
“We can give direct feedback (to La Trobe) from our members,” she said.
“We ask, where are our gaps? Which businesses can support students through their degree? Because then, in turn, maybe they’ll then start working with that business at the end.”
These discussions will also assist La Trobe in developing more short courses and micro-credentials, an aspect of the plan the university is hoping to increase in five years’ time.
La Trobe is also targeting entrepreneurship programs as part of its strategy, wanting to support regional start-ups, connecting researchers and local businesses to work together.
La Trobe discipline lead for social work and director of graduate research Corina Modderman said this would help foster regional innovation ecosystems in the community.
“Let’s say a grant of $50,000 that we give to rural communities that come up with a really good idea about health and wellbeing outcomes that really changes the community, and the community decides what they find important,” Dr Modderman said.
