The Australian 18 July
The five fastest-growing universities recorded their lowest progress rates last year, as more students seemed to struggle in an expanding university system.
Macquarie, Swinburne, Canberra, Western Sydney and the Australian Catholic universities recruited aggressively in 2010 and 2011, over-enrolling by between 25% and 40% over the two years, taking advantage of the doubling of the over-enrolment buffer to 10% in the lead-up to this year’s uncapping of higher education places. But the progress rates of their domestic undergraduates – or the proportion of units completed successfully – declined by between 1.5 and five percentage points over the period.
The average progress rate at the 38 public universities reached a historic low, sliding to 84 per cent last year after ranging between 85 % and 87% over the previous decade.
A University of Canberra spokesman said higher education expansion should be celebrated. If this results in a slightly lower progress rate, despite a university’s best efforts at support, it may be viewed as one part of a generally progressive policy.
Vin Massaro, an honorary professorial fellow at the University of Melbourne’s LH Martin Institute, cautioned against reading too much into what was traditionally a variable figure, although he said the “drift down” in progress rates did send a warning signal about admission policies and support for underprivileged students” and students with lower ATARS.
Both groups need a lot more support to succeed. It may be that the amount of support that’s funded isn’t sufficient to cater for the policy direction.