Education in Ballarat

From carpentry to computer engineering, TAFE to cutting edge ICT, Ballarat offers a broad array of educational opportunities.

Ballarat is in a class of its own with some of the finest primary and secondary schools in Australia and several high-quality tertiary educational institutions.

The city boasts two Universities, a TAFE Institute, nine secondary schools (four government and five private) and over 50 primary schools to choose from.

The University of Ballarat, previously called the School of Mines, was established in 1870. Declared a University in 1994, it serves a student body of 18,000, providing under-graduate and postgraduate study in over 50 specialised areas across nine schools and faculties: Arts; Behavioural Science; Business; Education; Engineering; Human Movement and Sports Sciences; Nursing; Science; and Social Sciences and Humanities.

Set amid picturesque bushland in Mt Helen, the University of Ballarat offers students an excellent range of resources, including an extensive reference library, state-of-the-art aquatic centre, well-equipped gymnasium, on-campus student accommodation, modern research facilities, shops and cafes.

The information superhighway makes an important stop in Ballarat. A strong emphasis on information communication technology pervades all university courses, and the campus hosts the Information technology outsourcing centre, a $12 million joint venture between IBM and the Victorian State Government.

School of Mines and Industries, a TAFE campus of the University of Ballarat in the heart of the city, offers vocational courses at Diploma, Associate Diploma and Advanced Certificate levels.

On the other side of the city, over 700 students at the Ballarat campus of the Australian Catholic University undertake undergraduate courses in Education, Nursing, Arts, and postgraduate studies in education, Religious Education, Nursing and Administration each year.

Education Employment

Education is a major industry sector in Ballarat, employing over 3,200 people and providing services to over 21,800 Ballarat based students.

Facilities

In total, there are 41 Primary Schools, 15 Secondary Schools and two (2) Universities in Ballarat. The highest number of enrolments are in primary schools (35.2%), secondary schools (28.7%) and at the Universities (19.5%). Furthermore, 68.6% of all primary school children and 54.2% of secondary school students are enrolled in Government schools.

Ballarat's resident population is better educated compared with other areas in Regional Victoria. For instance, 9.2% of Ballarat people hold a Bachelor Degree or higher, compared with 7.6% for Bendigo and Geelong.

The University of Ballarat is a highly regarded educational institution which has two (2) campuses (Mt Helen and Camp Street) and one TAFE campus (School of Mines Ballarat (SMB) campus) and employs over 600 EFT people. There are over 7,600 students studying through the University of Ballarat, which includes Ballarat based residents (60.4%), distance education students (39.6%), and those studying at University affiliated locations outside of Ballarat. Student numbers have significantly increased (56.9%) over the past five (5) years, at a rate of 11.4% per annum.

Exporting Education

A large proportion of the student body consists of international students, who are predominantly from India, China, Bangladesh and Malaysia. Education is a rapidly growing export industry for Ballarat, also available to students studying offshore with the delivery of a number of courses online. Ballarat is well positioned to cater for the future global demand for international higher education, which is expected to quadruple over the next 20 years. Furthermore, Ballarat has already developed a number of strategic alliances (ie. domestic collaboration and international partnering) to ensure its global competitiveness. In addition, Ballarat is developing relationships with local and regional businesses in order to deliver customised and industry relevant educational packages.