Carrick Higher Education made history as it held its inaugural graduation ceremony on Thursday 22 January. Purnima Nadipalli, Yeming Mao, Annette Mossman and Parika Ramdhony celebrated the completion of their Bachelor of Business (Tourism and Hospitality Management) at the new Docklands campus in Melbourne.

The graduates completed Carrick Higher Education’s two year degree that combines hands on industry experience with business theory making them job ready for careers in the tourism and hospitality industry. The degree was launched in Melbourne, 2007, Sydney in 2008 and is now enrolling at Carrick Adelaide for a March 2009 start.

Purnima, Yeming, Annette and Parika were assisted by Carrick Recruitment and Training to find part-time work in hospitality/tourism positions whilst studying at Carrick. The work placements complimented their studies and contributed to the degree’s practicum.

The graduates have aspirations to develop careers relevant to their education. International student Yeming’s goal is to make his mark in the Chinese tourism industry. He says there is huge opportunity in tourism and plans to work at the new Disneyland opening in Shanghai.

Indian born Purnima, is currently working for the University of Melbourne and plans to stay in Melbourne to develop her career within the university. Prunima says that the business skills she learnt helped her to secure her role at the university.

All graduates recognised the hands on experience and the extensive industry knowledge of teachers as definite drawcards to enrolling in the degree course.

Catherine Carrick, founder and managing director of Carrick Institute of Education was proud to watch the first students graduate and hopes to see many more to come, as Carrick Higher Education’s reputation grows stronger with time. Catherine said “Higher Education is a very competitive market but Carrick’s industry based learning is providing graduates with industry experience from day one and that will be the key to the degree program’s success.”

Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) figures showed a 6.4 per cent increase in applications for under graduate programs and almost 13,000 people missed out on places as demand for tertiary education increased.i Carrick Institute of Education has offered vocational courses for over twenty years and due to overwhelming demand for degree courses both locally and internationally, launched Carrick Higher Education.