YEAR 11 students can seek an early offer at La Trobe University, after an expansion of the Aspire Pathway was announced.
Based on their Year 11 results, students can apply to be part of the Aspire program and receive a conditional university offer.
This means as long as marks were kept up in Year 12 and any required classes were completed, the student was guaranteed a place at the university, prior to the usual first round offers.
Mildura Head of Campus Sandra Connor announced the expansion to the program, which had previously been available to final year students since 2014.
"It's a way of gaining a conditional offer to La Trobe University," Ms Connor said.
"We are now opening it up to Year 11s who have a high score and a recommendation from their principal."
She said all programs offered at La Trobe Mildura were part of the program.
Current La Trobe nursing student and Aspire recipient Lily Milsom said she wanted to take part in the pathway much earlier than when it was first offered to her.
"I actually wanted to apply for Aspire in Year 11 and didn't realise it was only a Year 12 opportunity," Ms Milson said.
"It would have helped reduce the stress of exams and general Year 12 coursework by having a sense of comfort."
Ms Connor said she hoped it gave a "sense of security" to hardworking students that if they complete the required benchmarks, they will definitely have an offer from the university.
After struggling through COVID lockdowns for the past few years, Ms Milson said this would be a real help to the mental health of students.
"I definitely think it will help with their mental wellbeing," she said.
"Especially for people who are like OK, maybe things have not been very great the last couple of years, but going to university is a great opportunity and it's something I've been looking forward to doing, or maybe the idea that I could study something at a tertiary level is new.
"Either way, I think being able to go through Aspire makes it that slightly less daunting, especially since we have gone through so long without face-to-face contact."
Ms Connor said supporting more young people to take that next step to university was incredibly important.
"The Aspire program is a great way to connect with high school students and guide them through the transition to higher education," she said.
Students interested in taking part in the Aspire program were encouraged to talk to the careers councillor at their high school.