The Minister for Education, Julia Gillard has welcomed new figures released which show that the number of students in higher education in Australia is growing. Figures released by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations show student numbers exceeded 925 000 in the first half of 2008. This represents an increase of 2.8 per cent from the same period in 2007 (increasing from 900 442 to 925 511). DEEWR Media release, 2 April 2009