Student enrolment strong at Marcus Oldham and Longerenong colleges
Students are flocking to agriculture colleges for tertiary qualifications, after a year in which many farming sectors proved their economic strength and resilience. Find out what is behind the trend.
AGRICULTURAL colleges in Victoria have been inundated with enrolments this year.
Marcus Oldham College and Longerenong College have both hit record high undergraduate numbers, with strong interest in certificate, diploma and degree-level qualifications in agriculture and agribusiness.
Marcus Oldham principal Dr Simon Livingstone said 160 students were expected to start at the Geelong residential college this month, a 25.4 per cent increase on five years ago.
“This is the highest enrolment the college has had in face-to-face instruction,” Dr Livingstone said. “We are seeing once again that agriculture is in a very good position. It just reinforces that students want tertiary qualifications.”
The specialist college has received state government funds to build 30 new student rooms over the coming two years to help cater for the boom.
At Longerenong College, near Horsham, full-time enrolments are expected to hit 115, up 59 per cent on last year, and 31 per cent compared to four years ago.
Longerenong head of campus John Goldsmith said the college’s on-campus accommodation was full, and the institution would also teach 50-60 apprentices in addition to full-time students.
“Anything over 100 full timers is a full house,” he said. “It just gives you so much confidence that what we are doing is needed by students.
“Last year we were inundated by industry looking for our graduates. We just didn’t have enough.”
Australian Council of Deans of Agriculture secretary Professor Jim Pratley said tertiary agriculture departments across the nation expected the trend to extend to enrolments in university agriculture and agribusiness degrees as well.
“The numbers look at least as good as last year, or better in terms of preferences. That is our expectation,” he said.
Dookie campus director Associate Professor Ros Gall said enrolments for the University of Melbourne’s bachelor of agriculture course were expected to be the same or better than last year, with nearly 200 students admitted so far.
She said faculties across the university were expecting fewer students to defer their offers, due to bleak gap-year prospects with no international travel and uncertain school-leaver job prospects.
Confirmed university enrolment figures will not be available until after the final round of offers, released on February 22.
Longerenong’s residential accommodation is sharing a slice of the government funds for an upgrade, which will complement the college’s nearly completed Data Farm – another state-funded project.
“We’ve already had feedback from prospective students about how exciting the Data Farm is,” said Mr Goldsmith.
Advanced ag-tech including in-paddock lasers to track mouse movement and inversion towers that can help optimise chemical spray are part of the project.
“We’re including the ag-tech training into the curriculum this year,” he said. “These new students will start learning all this information as of February.”
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