Forty per cent of Australian Christian College Moreton’s 2017 graduating cohort are heading to the University of the Sunshine Coast, some of them the first in their family to attend university.

College principal Gary Underwood said 13 students from a class of 32 had chosen to study at USC, and that travel would be easy to the Sippy Downs or Caboolture campuses.

“The main USC campus is about 40 minutes away from their homes in Morayfield and Caboolture and the Caboolture campus is just up the road,” Mr Underwood said.

The students are enrolled to study psychology, environmental science, biomedical science, law and commerce and other degrees.

The students from both in-class and distance learning backgrounds.

“For many of them, they are absolutely the first in their family to go to university,” Mr Underwood said.

“And that is our goal – to give students in this region the ability to do something no one in their family has done before.

“We work closely with each child and put a lot of work in to ensure each child knows where they want to go and what they want to achieve.”

The college, which has a significant distance learning cohort, offers all students online class discussions and resource management, similar to what they will use at university.

Student Ava Maclean-Tuckett, of Burpengary, will be living at student accommodation near campus while she studies a Bachelor of Biomedical Science, inspired by a love of high school biology.

“I chose USC because the atmosphere on campus is really nice, it’s friendly and open and easy to find your way around,” she said.

Adriaan Van Staden, from Glass House Mountains, completed his high schooling via distance learning, and is looking forward to studying a Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Business (Financial Planning).

“I’m starting my own small business making and selling game boards and it will be good to have this background so I know what’s legal,” Adriaan said.

“My family emigrated to Australia in 2010, so starting a business is a way of getting a start in a new country.

“My sister is in her final year of a Bachelor of Science and I’ve heard from her that it’s a magnificent university with lots of support.”

- Janelle Kirkland

For more information on Australia’s newest university campus in the heart of Moreton Bay, visit USC Moreton Bay.