Melbourne’s most prestigious university is dominated by students who attended private schools despite efforts to increase representation among low-income students.
Data obtained by The Age shows the University of Melbourne had the highest proportion among Victoria’s universities – 64 per cent – of commencing students who came from non-government high schools.
The figures come as federal Education Minister Jason Clare pushes ahead with plans to boost the number of low-income students accessing higher education, announcing extra funding for universities that enrol people from underrepresented groups.
At Melbourne University, of the 64 per cent of commencing students from private schools, about 42.1 per cent were from the independent sector and 14.4 were from Catholic schools.
That left 36 per cent of students from public schools, the figures provided by the university revealed, well below the proportion of Victorian students educated in state schools.
The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows 55.4 per cent of year 12 students in Victoria went to a public school, 22.8 per cent attended Catholic schools and 22.7 per cent attended independent schools.
The independent school sector includes all the state’s most expensive schools – such as $52,000-per-year Geelong Grammar and $47,000-per-year Wesley College – but also captures private schools with lower fees.
A Melbourne University spokeswoman said the institution had initiated a “determined, long-term effort” to widen participation in higher education for students from all backgrounds.
“Our aim is that by 2030, domestic students who come from groups who have typically faced barriers to higher education will comprise 25 per cent of our total undergraduate student body,” she said.
The spokeswoman said a scholarship scheme launched in 2023 and an ongoing special entry scheme supported students who faced unique circumstances to gain entry to their preferred degree.
Monash University had the second-highest proportion of private school students, with non-government sector graduates accounting for about 56 per cent of new enrolments. Among its non-government students, Monash had more independent students than those from Catholic schools. But most other Victorian universities enrolled more Catholic students than those from independent schools.
Victoria University had the highest proportion of public school students among the state’s universities at 55 per cent of their year 12 graduate enrolments.
The school cohort data for commencing local students was provided by each individual university and there may be variations in how the figures are mapped by different institutions.
Students at the University of Melbourne.Credit: Simon Schluter
Monash University higher education expert Professor Andrew Norton said that in some families, there could be a multi-generational preference for a particular university – “particularly for Melbourne University, where you might have several generations in a family who have attended it”.
Melbourne was also still regarded as the most prestigious university in the city, he said.
Norton said other factors – such as the distance from students’ homes and ATAR entry cutoffs – affected the demographics of each university.
“The simple reality is there aren’t a huge number of potential students from low SES [socioeconomic status] backgrounds who finish Year 12 and get reasonably good results, so they are essentially fighting over that small pool of students,” he said.
“Melbourne [University] has tried really hard but there’s only so much they can do to alter the underlying realities.”
Nhan Nguyen, who went to the public St Albans Secondary College, now studies at Victoria University.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
Clare said the government was delivering a new funding model that would boost funding for universities enrolling students from low-income and underrepresented groups. The mid-year financial update allocated $1.7 billion to the new model, subject to being legislated.
“I want more people from the outer suburbs of our big cities and from regional Australia to get a crack at uni,” he said.
The Universities Accord interim review, commissioned by Clare, wants to achieve equity group parity in higher education participation by 2035. But Norton said that appeared almost impossible based on current trends.
“We are not seeing anything in the schools data that would allow this,” he said.
“The major reason why low SES students are underrepresented is they don’t finish year 12 or finish on a non-ATAR track or a low ATAR track.”
Victoria University youth work student Nhan Nguyen never thought university was an option when he completed year 12 at St Albans Secondary College, so he chose a non-ATAR pathway.
“My family work multiple casual and part-time jobs and jump from one to another,” he said.
“I didn’t think about uni or even TAFE because I would have to be working too much and no one in my family had ever gone.”
But after speaking to a career adviser, he started a diploma of community services and later transferred to a bachelor’s degree.
Nguyen believes the university entrance process should be made fairer for public school and lower-income students. He said the rise in paid tutoring for VCE preparations gives students who can afford it a considerable advantage.
“I wish there was more support for students like me so they could take advantage [of what] the world has to offer,” he said.
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