Regionals students continue to say no to uni. Is this pathway the answer?

A new program at La Trobe University has been designed to boost the number of young people in regions like Bendigo choosing to head to higher education.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 23 per cent of Bendigo residents aged 19 to 21 years old were enrolled in university in 2021, compared to just more than 50 per cent in Melbourne.

For 18 to 24-year-olds in Greater Bendigo, 19.9 per cent were enrolled in university, which had dropped from 23.3 per cent in 2016.

That was a "problem", Ms Bish said, as the university had hoped more people would have enrolled in higher education.

La Trobe's Regional Pathways Program, which was launched in Albury-Wodonga in 2017, aimed to overcame some of the barriers to more young people considering university.

The program focuses on students in "equity cohorts", which included those living in rural and regional areas, as well as people from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, non-English speakers and first-in-family students.

It would target rural schools on the outskirts of Bendigo from Term 3, starting July 15.

"La Trobe University is really committed to making sure that students who are in more than one equity cohort have access to higher education opportunities in their community," La Trobe's pro-vice chancellor of regional campuses Melanie Bish said.

"We know that there's a significant gap in higher education attainment rates across rural and regional Australia when compared to metropolitan counterparts.

"So this program is designed specifically to target that gap and make sure that we're supporting students to not only engage in educational opportunities but do so in a way that means that they are able to stay with family and that we are minimising the barriers that are impacting on people's choices."

Bendigo students often fit into two equity cohorts, Ms Bish said.

The program would encourage alternative pathways into university for students who might not have graduated VCE, and would also look to increase the number of students on financial scholarships.

"We are committed to being able to offer students in equity cohorts scholarships for the duration of their program with the intent of making sure that we not only recruit them into university, but we are positioning them to successfully complete their degrees," Ms Bish said.

"We understand that the financial situation that people are facing at the moment with the cost of living crisis and also living in rural and regional communities is a barrier and it factors into decision making.

"The way that this program works is to be able to provide place-based local education as well as additional scholarships and bursaries to support students in all facets of their university experience."

The program would look at "scaffolding" and tertiary reparation programs to give high school students a taste of university.

The 23 per cent attainment rate showed how strong the trades industry was in Bendigo, Ms Bish said.

"Being able to offer programs study that will enable students to go into health careers, education, advanced manufacturing, and not only enter the workforce but be able to progress up through organisations in their community is what we're hoping to see," she said.

Occupational therapy student Lidia Amadei completed a pathways program in 2019, during her senior years at Greater Shepparton Secondary College.

Ms Amadei said the program helped her develop study habits and prepare to move away from her family to study.

"It increased my willingness to look at courses outside of my hometown because I was supported by others in the program, who had more recent university experience than that of my parents," she said.

The pathways program was ready to support 224 students for two years and was supported by philanthropic donations.

"Further investment was needed to continue supporting additional schools, Ms Bish said.