They were the university's newest graduates who participated in the now annual parade around Ballarat's city streets.

Adorned in their gowns and proudly holding their degrees, they marched as family members jostled for position to take photographs.

For Kate Edwick, 28, yesterday marked her graduation in Commerce Management specialising in human relations.

Ms Edwick said despite the four years of hard work she was keen to do more study in physiology .

"It's good to have it all out of the way and have exciting things to look forward too," she said.

"There was definitely trying times. I have got to say doing accounting wasn't my forte, but with the support of friends and family and the lecturers I got through it."

University of Ballarat Vice-Chancellor Professor David Battersby said the march would now be a yearly feature on the. "We have students here from not only regional Victoria, but across Australia and the globe, so it's a great

event for the university but more particularly Ballarat."