University profile

Victoria University (VU) is the university of the west.

Victoria University achieved university status in 1991, but our preceding institutions date back to 1916. We are one of Australia’s few dual-sector universities. Today, we have over 40,000 enrolled higher education, and vocational education and training students studying on our campuses.

VU has received the following rankings:

ranked in the world’s top 2% (Times Higher Education – THE – World University Rankings)
ranked 45 in the world’s top universities aged under 50 (THE Young University Rankings 2019)
ranked number one in Australia for professional skills^ (2022 QILT Employer Satisfaction Survey).

As one of 39 public universities in Australia, graduates can be assured their qualification from VU is being awarded from a university operating in a world-class education system.

Being a dual-sector university means that our students can easily pathway from vocational education to higher education - such as from a certificate or diploma course through to an undergraduate degree or even a postgraduate qualification by coursework or research.

Key characteristics of our students

Slightly over 40% of VU’s students reside in the western Melbourne region.
47% of our higher education students are the first in the family to undertake a degree.
59% of new domestic commencements at VU each year are VET students.
Over 30% of our domestic students were born in another country.
49% of our students come from a non-English speaking background.

Ranked top 2%

VU is ranked in the top 2% of universities worldwide

No.1 for professional skills^

Australia’s top university for workplace technical skills (QILT Employer Satisfaction Survey 2022)

University teaching award

Winner 2020 Australian Award for University Teaching – VU First Year College® VU Block Model® teachers

VU values

The VU Values are that we are always:

welcoming
ethical
shaping the future
together.

They form the acronym ‘WEST’. So, we are ‘always west’ and this is symbolic of place. The west of Melbourne is the heart of VU – the centre from which we serve communities across Australia and overseas.

While we have always taken a values-based approach to our work at VU, our new values are an opportunity to express and further articulate our moral purpose more distinctly.

Our values are a living set of actions that underpin our moral purpose, this is The VU Way, which is to transform the lives and communities we serve.

VU’s values go beyond vocabulary they are a reflection of our beliefs and our ethics which in turn influences our practice.

VU Block Model®

Experience a smarter, more engaging way to study with the VU Block Model®.

Planetary Health

We are part of the rapidly growing global planetary health movement, which recognises the intersect between the health of people and the planet – and the impact of human behaviour upon the natural world.

Study at VU

Partnerships

Research

About VU