PREFACE FROM THE VICE-CHANCELLOR AND PRESIDENT

Victoria University (VU) welcomes the clear intention of the Commonwealth Government to make education pivotal to its social inclusion agenda. The University has been committed to social inclusion through education for more than 90 years, working with people from all backgrounds to broaden their life and employment options. This monograph reports on a unique study undertaken by the University in 2008 to explore the success rates for different segments of our highly complex student body. VU is a multi-sector institution serving a low income, diverse community in the west of Melbourne. VU’s student population varies across a number of dimensions that are central to current policy debates, including socio-economic status, cultural and language diversity, the interaction between work and study and the differences and similarities between vocational and higher education students. While this study is intended to improve the ability of VU to support its own students, it may also provide insights for national policy and other education providers facing similar complex educational challenges. The largest group of VU students come from the west of Melbourne, an old manufacturing region with low participation in post-secondary education and a high proportion of low-income households. V