CHARLES Sturt University’s statistics for course completion should be seen in context, according to its deputy vice-chancellor Professor Toni Downes.
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Prof Downes was responding to a Fairfax Media report which said a third of Australian students won’t graduate within six years.
The report detailed the statistics for completion rates for NSW universities for students starting in 2006 and completing in 2014, showing CSU’s 61.30 per cent was well below metropolitan universities such as Western Sydney University (73.7pc), the University of NSW (81.9pc) and the University of Sydney (88.6pc).
Prof Downes pointed to CSU’s mix of students as a way to add context to the raw figures.
“The student profile is quite mixed, with about 60 per cent studying part-time online,” she said.
“Of those studying on campus, only about 25 per cent are school leavers and many of these are first-in-family students.”
Prof Downes argued the university’s policy of inclusion also skewed the figures.
“Regionality has an impact on completion statistics,” she said.
“At CSU we encourage a diverse range of students from differing academic and social backgrounds to aspire to complete a degree.”
Prof Downes said it was important to note that in 2015, CSU had the highest number of Indigenous student completions in Australia and the second-highest Indigenous student enrolments.
“For domestic undergraduate on-campus students, our first-year attrition is typically about 15 per cent, with a total attrition of about 30 per cent by the end of the degree, resulting in a completion rate of around 70 per cent.
“On-campus students tend to complete their degrees more quickly than online students, as they generally study full-time.
“Undergraduate students studying online have a first-year attrition of about 25 per cent.”
CSU said it has had strong growth in the number of offers made to prospective students for 2017 with 14,738 offers for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. It said 105 offers had been made to Dubbo students by Friday.