| 1. IntroductionThe following analysis does two things. First, based on data
to 1997, it estimates final completion rates. This is the proportion of students who
commenced in 1992 and eventually complete an award1. The estimate takes into account students who fail to complete at
an institution but subsequently re-enrol at the same university or a different institution
and complete at a later date.
Second, it considers a range of characteristics which affect
completion rates. These factors are gender, age, mode of study, tertiary entrance rank
(TER), basis for entry to university, field of study, Indigenous status, language
background, socioeconomic status and geographic location. Details of these characteristics
are reported in Appendix A.
1.1 The main findings
The main findings of the analysis are:
Our best estimate is that around 80
per cent of students complete an award;
Approximately 60 per cent of
undergraduate students who enroled at an institution in 1992 had completed an award at
that institution by 1997;
Around 34 per cent had not completed
an award and were not studying at the institution of enrolment in 1997;
Almost 6 per cent had not yet
completed an award but were still studying;
Women are more likely to complete an
award than men. This is particularly true for those who entered university on the basis of
TER; Completions generally decline as age increases;
Full-time students have the highest
completion rate while external students have the lowest completion rate;
TER is a significant predictor of
completing a university course;
For students who entered university
on a basis other than a TER score those who have previous higher education experience and
professional qualifications have the highest completion rates;
Certain fields of study contribute,
some positively and some negatively, to the probability of completion irrespective of the
student characteristics;
Compared to other domestic students
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students have significantly lower completion rates;
People with a non-English speaking
background have completion rates significantly higher than those with an English speaking
background;
Socio-economic status affects
completion rates but only marginally so; and
Students from isolated areas have
significantly lower completion rates than urban students.
1 The
student records are part of the 1992 commencing student cohort data base which is derived
from information supplied to the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs by
publicly funded universities. The 1992 commencing student cohort includes students who
enroled between January and March 1992. A number of student records could not be included
in the database because information provided by institutions was inaccurate or incomplete.
The reasons for excluding records are fully documented. Only non-overseas students have
been included in the following analysis. The database therefore consists of 128 934
students |