Regional students need more financial support from the Federal Government to attend university.

A new study confirms students from rural and regional areas in Victoria are at least twice as disadvantaged when taking up tertiary offers compared with metropolitan students.The Youth Affairs Council of Victoria Deferring a University Offer in Regional Victoria – interim report includes people who finished school in 2006 and deferred a university place in 2007.In 2007, 15.7% of regional Victorian school completers deferred a place at university, two and a half times the rate of deferral found amongst metropolitan students. Table 2 Growth in deferral rate (metropolitan & non-metropolitan) 2004-2007

Metropolitan Non-metropolitan
2004 5.5% 9.9%
2007 6.4% 15.7%

Goulburn Murray Local Learning and Employment Network chief executive officer Jennifer Hippisley, who helped compile the report with 13 other learning and employment networks, said financial difficulties were a major hurdle for regional students considering tertiary education.“It would be an absurd prospect for someone from a low socio-economic are to think they could raise $15,000 for rent, study, and to feed and clothe themselves if they left home,” Ms Hippisley said.“A lot of young people put study off and don’t end up going,” she said.The report shows that, compared with school completers who defer university state-wide, many regional deferrers come from lower socio-economic backgrounds.“However, despite these hardships, the respondents in this study display a range of mainly positive destination outcomes,” it says.“Approximately seven in 10 have taken up a place at university. A further 9.3 per cent have entered vocational education and training courses, mainly at Certificate IV level or above, and a further 3.1 per cent have entered traineeships or apprenticeships. In all, over eight in 10 are in some form of education or training.”Ms Hippisley said students from regional areas faced more difficulties that those living in metropolitan areas.“We face skills shortages in all areas and the Federal Government needs to change its policy and support rural and regional young people to get post-compulsory education.”