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 it’s global competitiveness. In addition, Ballarat is developing relationships with local and regional businesses in order to deliver customised and industry relevant educational packages.