University profile
Victoria University (VU) is the university of the west.
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.
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.
West of Melbourne charter
Read about our commitment to the west of Melbourne, what we are doing and what we're striving for.
Values fact sheet
Our teaching achievements
VU achieved university status in 1991, but our preceding institutions date back to 1916. Today, we have over 40,000 enrolled higher education, and vocational education and training students studying on our campuses.
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.
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).
Meet our students
Discover some of the key characteristics of our students:
- Slightly over 40% of VU’s students live in the western Melbourne region.
- 47% of our higher education students are the first in their family to undertake a degree.
- 59% of new domestic commencements at VU each year are vocational education and training (VET) students.
- Over 30% of our domestic students were born in another country.
- 49% of our students come from a non-English speaking background.