Melbourne Model

The Melbourne Curriculum (previously the Melbourne Model) was introduced at the University of Melbourne in 2008 by Vice-Chancellor Professor Glyn Davis. The Melbourne Curriculum is designed to align itself "with the best of European and Asian practice and North American traditions" specifically for "nternationalising academic programs and aligning degree structures with the 'Bologna model'". As a result of its implementation the university's 96 undergraduate courses were replaced with a mere six undergraduate degrees and professional programs.

The Melbourne Curriculum has been met with a wave of criticism from students, academics and unions as well as coming under much scrutiny in the Australian press, often described as "controversial" and following a "US-style". Most of the criticism is focussed on the loss of jobs (and the consequent negative impact on staff:student ratios) rather than the curriculum itself. Job losses were initially concentrated in the Arts Faculty but later spread to other faculties, including the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA or VCAM). Although the program is often compared to the American tertiary education system, it uses only three-year undergraduate degrees whereas in the United States Bachelor's degrees are almost universally designed as four-year programs.

Since the consolidation of the Melbourne Curriculum, the University has placed top in Australian university rankings while in international rankings the University was placed 28th in the world in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2012-2013 and 36th in the world in the QS World University Rankings for 2012-2013.