Federal Assistant Minister for Education and Regional Development, Anthony Chisholm will officially open a new Regional University Study Hub in Chinchilla today, which will be known as the Country Universities Centre (CUC) Western Downs.
The new university hub provides dedicated support for students across the region to access and complete a tertiary education.
CUC Western Downs was one of the 10 new Regional University Study Hubs announced in March 2024, and is one of 12 regional hubs across Queensland to be funded through the Australian Government's Regional University Study Hubs Program.
This hub, right in the centre of Chinchilla, will bring tertiary education closer to home for students who would otherwise have to travel over 150kms each way to attend university, or move away from their hometown.
With only 10.8 per cent of people in the Western Downs region have a bachelor's degree or higher, the new hub will help more students pursue a tertiary education while remaining near the support network.
The hub is also expected to provide support for local First Nations students, with 7.6 per cent of the Chinchilla population identifying as First Nations.
Increasing the number of study hubs in regional and outer-suburban communities was a priority action of the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report, and contributes to the government's target of helping 80 per cent of the country's workforce attain a university degree, or TAFE qualification, by 2050.
