Appendix B: Higher Education Enrolments and Completions, 1989 to 1994

[next chapter] [previous chapter] [contents]

Undergraduates

The undergraduate commencements for 1989 to 1994 are given in Table B1. There has been, on average, 2.8 percent annual growth in the number of students commencing undergraduate courses during this period, with the growth in female numbers a 0.5 percentage points higher than that for males. However, the growth in numbers is not uniform across all years. There was a large increase of 10.1 percent from 1989 to 1990, but a drop of 7.4 percent between 1991 to 1992. In 1992 universities adjusted their intake to compensate for the unfunded enrolment in the previous couple of years.

The average annual growth in the number of Australians commencing undergraduate courses is 1.7 percent. There is considerable variation in the rate across fields of study and gender. On average, there has been an annual decline of 5.5 percent in the number of students commencing education (I) while the number commencing courses in law show an annual growth of 12.5 percent. The average growth in numbers commencing business courses is a very small 0.2 percent per annum. The drop in numbers in 1992 over those in 1991 was for all fields of study except architecture. The numbers in education (I) and health have dropped each year since 1992. Across all fields of study, except architecture and education (I), the average annual growth in female numbers has been higher than that for males. In education (I) both males and females numbers have declined at almost the same average annual rate.

Table B1 Undergraduate Course Commencements, 1989 to 1994

							Percentage Change
	Year						From Previous Year
	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	Average
Males
All	58680	63552	66975	61907	63418	66391	8.3	5.4	-7.6	2.4	4.7	2.5
Australian	56244	59335	62027	56622	57865	60032	5.5	4.5	-8.7	2.2	3.7	1.3
Architecture	1518	1671	1692	1649	1772	1845	10.1	1.3	-2.5	7.5	4.1	4.0
Arts	10012	10971	11828	10411	10824	11339	9.6	7.8	-12.0	4.0	4.8	2.5
Business	14955	15525	14864	13335	13584	14119	3.8	-4.3	-10.3	1.9	3.9	-1.1
Education (I)	3803	3903	3966	3408	3113	2874	2.6	1.6	-14.1	-8.7	-7.7	-5.4
Engineering	7751	7885	8633	8007	8557	8840	1.7	9.5	-7.3	6.9	3.3	2.7
Health	2396	2543	2875	2879	2965	2961	6.1	13.1	0.1	3.0	-0.1	4.3
Law	1284	1560	1790	1949	2054	2215	21.5	14.7	8.9	5.4	7.8	11.5
Science	11218	11981	13000	11780	11968	12482	6.8	8.5	-9.4	1.6	4.3	2.2
Females
All	73223	81677	86895	80597	81867	84883	11.5	6.4	-7.2	1.6	3.7	3.0
Australian	71436	78340	82679	75794	76892	79210	9.7	5.5	-8.3	1.4	3.0	2.1
Architecture	922	1054	947	997	955	1051	14.3	-10.2	5.3	-4.2	10.1	2.7
Arts	21726	23827	25116	22867	23294	25475	9.7	5.4	-9.0	1.9	9.4	3.2
Business	11399	12863	12591	11267	11815	12447	12.8	-2.1	-10.5	4.9	5.3	1.8
Education (I)	10911	11181	11261	8946	8974	8217	2.5	0.7	-20.6	0.3	-8.4	-5.5
Engineering	908	1129	1249	1378	1393	1395	24.3	10.6	10.3	1.1	0.1	9.0
Health	11144	12605	14082	14023	13833	13328	13.1	11.7	-0.4	-1.4	-3.7	3.6
Law	1244	1538	1828	1661	2138	2350	23.6	18.9	-9.1	28.7	9.9	13.6
Science	7796	8503	9596	9143	9282	9856	9.1	12.9	-4.7	1.5	6.2	4.8
Persons
All	131903	145229	153870	142504	145285	151274	10.1	5.9	-7.4	2.0	4.1	2.8
Australian	127680	137675	144706	132416	134757	139242	7.8	5.1	-8.5	1.8	3.3	1.7
Architecture	2440	2725	2639	2646	2727	2896	11.7	-3.2	0.3	3.1	6.2	3.5
Arts	31738	34798	36944	33278	34118	36814	9.6	6.2	-9.9	2.5	7.9	3.0
Business	26354	28388	27455	24602	25399	26566	7.7	-3.3	-10.4	3.2	4.6	0.2
Education (I)	14714	15084	15227	12354	12087	11091	2.5	0.9	-18.9	-2.2	-8.2	-5.5
Engineering	8659	9014	9882	9385	9950	10235	4.1	9.6	-5.0	6.0	2.9	3.4
Health	13540	15148	16957	16902	16798	16289	11.9	11.9	-0.3	-0.6	-3.0	3.8
Law	2528	3098	3618	3610	4192	4565	22.5	16.8	-0.2	16.1	8.9	12.5
Science	19014	20484	22596	20923	21250	22338	7.7	10.3	-7.4	1.6	5.1	3.3

Total enrolments of undergraduates between 1989 and 1994 are given in Table B2. There has been, on average, an annual growth of 4.9 percent in the total undergraduate enrolments, with the average annual growth in female numbers 1 percentage point higher than that for males. Although there has been a growth in total enrolment each year since 1989, the percentage change has declined from being 9.7 percent from 1989 to 1990 to only 0.9 percent from 1993 to 1994.

Changes in total enrolment of Australian students is not uniform across fields of study. Total enrolment in Education (I) show an average annual decline of 2.9 percent between 1989 and 1994, while in Law there has been an increase, on average, of 12.7 percent annually. A very high 22.4 percent increase in enrolments in Law was recorded in 1990. Part of this increase is probably due to the change in some field of study classification in 1987 which resulted in the transfer of some courses from Business to Law (see DEET 1995a). Total enrolment in Education (I) courses has been dropping since 1992. Female enrolments have increased at a higher average annual rate than male enrolments for each field of study, except Education (I). In the case of Education (I) male numbers declined at a higher average annual rate than female numbers. Since 1992 enrolments in Business courses have been dropping for males, but female numbers show a drop only in 1994.

Table B2 Undergraduate Total Enrolments, 1989 to 1994

							Percentage Change
	Year						From Previous Year
	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	Average
Males
All	161469	174456	188942	193925	197385	199960	8.0	8.3	2.6	1.8	1.3	4.4
Australian	157503	167205	179020	181644	183426	184498	6.2	7.1	1.5	1.0	0.6	3.2
Architecture	5143	5391	5551	5683	5899	6020	4.8	3.0	2.4	3.8	2.1	3.2
Arts	26226	27973	30601	30946	31287	31801	6.7	9.4	1.1	1.1	1.6	3.9
Business	41914	44858	46560	45951	45272	44380	7.0	3.8	-1.3	-1.5	-2.0	1.1
Education (I)	10092	9962	10284	9844	9311	8561	-1.3	3.2	-4.3	-5.4	-8.1	-3.2
Engineering	23586	24937	27158	28171	29453	30344	5.7	8.9	3.7	4.5	3.0	5.2
Health	6178	6706	7293	7716	8143	8106	8.5	8.7	5.8	5.5	-0.5	5.6
Law	4608	5493	6207	6862	7401	7764	19.2	13.0	10.6	7.9	4.9	11.0
Science	28460	30677	33789	34928	35350	35885	7.8	10.1	3.4	1.2	1.5	4.7
Females
All	185641	206333	228158	236845	240373	241649	11.1	10.6	3.8	1.5	0.5	5.4
Australian	182788	200655	219980	226119	228255	228348	9.8	9.6	2.8	0.9	0.0	4.6
Architecture	2638	2957	2993	3188	3263	3377	12.1	1.2	6.5	2.4	3.5	5.1
Arts	57225	61865	67578	68783	69059	71831	8.1	9.2	1.8	0.4	4.0	4.7
Business	28160	32593	35635	36531	37184	36832	15.7	9.3	2.5	1.8	-0.9	5.5
Education (I)	28828	29617	30578	28849	27255	24958	2.7	3.2	-5.7	-5.5	-8.4	-2.8
Engineering	2382	2911	3442	3993	4428	4696	22.2	18.2	16.0	10.9	6.1	14.5
Health	26255	30171	34467	37464	38293	36617	14.9	14.2	8.7	2.2	-4.4	6.9
Law	4031	5080	5969	6441	7343	7909	26.0	17.5	7.9	14.0	7.7	14.4
Science	18799	21061	23894	25287	26261	27327	12.0	13.5	5.8	3.9	4.1	7.8
Persons
All	347110	380789	417099	430770	437758	441609	9.7	9.5	3.3	1.6	0.9	4.9
Australian	340291	367860	399000	407764	411681	412846	8.1	8.5	2.2	1.0	0.3	3.9
Architecture	7781	8348	8544	8871	9162	9397	7.3	2.3	3.8	3.3	2.6	3.8
Arts	83451	89838	98179	99729	100346	103632	7.7	9.3	1.6	0.6	3.3	4.4
Business	70074	77451	82195	82482	82456	81212	10.5	6.1	0.3	0.0	-1.5	3.0
Education (I)	38920	39579	40862	38693	36566	33519	1.7	3.2	-5.3	-5.5	-8.3	-2.9
Engineering	25967	27848	30600	32164	33881	35040	7.2	9.9	5.1	5.3	3.4	6.2
Health	32434	36878	41759	45180	46436	44723	13.7	13.2	8.2	2.8	-3.7	6.6
Law	8639	10574	12176	13302	14744	15673	22.4	15.2	9.3	10.8	6.3	12.7
Science	47259	51737	57683	60215	61611	63212	9.5	11.5	4.4	2.3	2.6	6.0

Course completion numbers for undergraduates between 1989 and 1993 are given in  TableB3. It was found that the number for total completions (all courses) for 1991 obtained from the electronic file did not match with the published figure in DEET (1995a). The discrepancy of 109 was all in arts completions. The completions increased at an annual average of 9.7 percent over this period, with the average for males being 8.0 percent and that for females 10.9 percent.

Australian course completions vary across field of study and gender. Course completions in education (I) dropped, on average, by 1.6 percent per year between 1989 and 1993, while those in Health increased by 16.2 percent per year. Completions in Law are interesting. They show a drop of 12.5 percent from 1990 to 1991, but a massive increase of 40.9 percent from 1993 to 1994. Part of the variation is possibly due, as mentioned earlier, to the change in the field of study classification for some courses that was introduced in 1987. Female course completions show a higher average annual increase than male completions for each field of study, except education (I). In the case of education (I) male completions dropped at an annual average of 6.1 percent while those of females dropped at an annual average of only 0.1 percent. For some fields of study the difference in the male and female average annual growth in completions is quite large, for example, the difference in engineering is 12 percentage points and that in Business 7.6 percentage points.

Postgraduates

The course commencements for postgraduates for 1989 to 1994 are given in Table B4. The total number of commencements grew by an average annual rate 11.1 percent over this period. The growth in Research degree commencements saw tremendous growth in the first three years, peaking at 34.1 percent in 1992, but then falling off dramatically with only a 1.1 percent growth in 1994. The growth in Master's by Coursework degree commencements reached a peak of 33.4 percent in 1989 and has been falling steadily ever since. Its growth of only 9.9 percent in 1994. Other Postgraduate course commencements have had less dramatic growth, in fact, there was no growth in their numbers in 1992. In general, female numbers have increased at a faster rate than those of males. Only female Other Postgraduate numbers in 1992 and male Research numbers in 1994 saw a reduction from the previous year.

Table B3 Undergraduate Course Completions, 1989 to 1993

Table B4 Postgraduate Course Commencements, 1989 to 1994

							Percentage Change
	Year						From Previous Year
	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	Average
Males
Research	2894	3324	4238	5549	6138	5975	14.9	27.5	30.9	10.6	-2.7	15.6
Master's by Coursework	4517	5706	7071	7912	8851	9497	26.3	23.9	11.9	11.9	7.3	16.0
Other Postgraduate	10441	11641	13097	13396	13663	13685	11.5	12.5	2.3	2.0	0.2	5.6
Total	17852	20671	24406	26857	28652	29157	15.8	18.1	10.0	6.7	1.8	10.3
Females
Research	1774	2121	2727	3788	4095	4373	19.6	28.6	38.9	8.1	6.8	19.8
Master's by Coursework	3036	4373	5715	6505	7385	8353	44.0	30.7	13.8	13.5	13.1	22.4
Other Postgraduate	13471	14785	17107	16823	18420	19406	9.8	15.7	-1.7	9.5	5.4	7.6
Total	18281	21279	25549	27116	29900	32132	16.4	20.1	6.1	10.3	7.5	11.9
Persons
Research	4668	5445	6965	9337	10233	10348	16.6	27.9	34.1	9.6	1.1	17.3
Master's by Coursework	7553	10079	12786	14417	16236	17850	33.4	26.9	12.8	12.6	9.9	18.8
Other Postgraduate	23912	26426	30204	30219	32083	33091	10.5	14.3	0.0	6.2	3.1	6.7
Total	36133	41950	49955	53973	58552	61289	16.1	19.1	8.0	8.5	4.7	11.1

Total enrolments of postgraduates are given in Table B5. Postgraduate numbers grew by an average annual rate of 11.7 percent between 1989 and 1994, with the female rate outstripping male rate by 2.4 percentage points. The pattern of changes are similar to that for course commencements. In 1989 females comprised 47.6 percent of all postgraduate enrolments, but by 1994 this proportion has increased to 50.3 percent. Over the same period female Research degree enrolment has increased from 35.8 to 40.8 percent.

Postgraduate course completions for 1989 to 1993 are given in Table B6. Overall course completions increased by an average of 12.4 percent per annum, with both male and female completions increasing at about the same average rate. However, completions of Master's by Coursework degrees increased by a staggering average of 29.6 percent per annum. Annual average increases in female completions of Research and Master's by Coursework degrees are substantially higher than that for males. Female completions of Research degrees make up 36.4 percent of all Research degree completions in 1994 compared to 30.9 percent in 1989. Female share of Master's by Coursework degree completions has increased from 38 percent to 42.8 percent over the same period.

Table B5 Postgraduate Total Enrolments, 1989 to 1994

							Percentage Change
	Year						From Previous Year
	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	Average
Males
Research	9465	10445	11933	14667	16938	18344	10.4	14.2	22.9	15.5	8.3	14.1
Master's by Coursework	9564	11529	14096	16321	18515	19952	20.5	22.3	15.8	13.4	7.8	15.8
Other Postgraduate	17657	18964	21295	21991	22035	22336	7.4	12.3	3.3	0.2	1.4	4.8
Total	36686	40938	47324	52979	57488	60632	11.6	15.6	11.9	8.5	5.5	10.6
Females
Research	5286	6094	7347	9620	11403	12640	15.3	20.6	30.9	18.5	10.8	19.0
Master's by Coursework	6417	8249	10889	12953	15046	17216	28.5	32.0	19.0	16.2	14.4	21.8
Other Postgraduate	21606	23481	27343	27903	29656	31471	8.7	16.4	2.0	6.3	6.1	7.8
Total	33309	37824	45579	50476	56105	61327	13.6	20.5	10.7	11.2	9.3	13.0
Persons
Research	14751	16539	19280	24287	28341	30984	12.1	16.6	26.0	16.7	9.3	16.0
Master's by Coursework	15981	19778	24985	29274	33561	37168	23.8	26.3	17.2	14.6	10.7	18.4
Other Postgraduate	39263	42445	48638	49894	51691	53807	8.1	14.6	2.6	3.6	4.1	6.5
Total	69995	78762	92903	103455	113593	121959	12.5	18.0	11.4	9.8	7.4	11.7

Table B6 Postgraduate Course Completions, 1989 to 1993