Students taking advantage of USC short courses funded by the Australian Government are this week getting the exciting news that their applications have been accepted.

Ten USC certificate-level programs have been significantly discounted to support people to retrain or upskill following the COVID-19 lockdown, allowing eligible domestic students to build skills and knowledge in areas of national priority.

USC’s Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Robert Elliot said he was pleased to see early interest from those keen to gain valuable qualifications next semester, between July and December.

“We have offered 17 places already and we look forward to offering more in the weeks ahead,” Professor Elliot said.

“The funded programs on offer are in fields of strategic importance to Australia, for example teaching, health, animal ecology and information technology.

“These are all federally supported pathways because they will provide integral skills for the workforce as Australia recovers from the wellbeing and economic impacts of COVID-19.”

Government-funded Undergraduate Certificates are available in Allied Health, Animal Ecology, Early Childhood Education, Engineering, IT Careers, and Primary Education.

And government-funded Graduate Certificates are available in Aged Care, Health Promotion, Information Technology for the Digital Age, and Nursing. These Graduate Certificates can be used towards higher qualifications, such as Graduate Diplomas or Master degrees.

Students who enrol in the short courses can begin studying online. More information is available at www.usc.edu.au/shortcourses

USC also offers the Tertiary Preparation Pathway, a free bridging course to help new students brush up on their study skills to gain entry into a degree.