Every one of the 2002 UniSA-PAL students who completed the course at Para West Adult Campus applied for entry to university programs, was offered at least one place, and all but two subsequently enrolled in a university undergraduate bachelor degree program. Quantitatively this means that 50 per cent of the 2002 actual commencing UniSA-PAL students were offered a university place with 41 per cent actually enrolling. All but one of the 36 2003 UniSA-PAL students was offered and subsequently enrolled in a university program in 2004. As an additional four non-completers were similarly offered and took up a place at the University of South Australia, on the basis of their results in the Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT), the actual commencing cohort of the 2003 UniSA-PAL course offered in the four adult re-entry schools had a transition rate to higher education studies of 57 per cent, almost identical to the average transition rate for the Diploma in University Studies students and almost double the only national data available on transition rates for students in the Enabling Program.
Until the significant structural changes in 2004, the transition rate into undergraduate bachelor degree level studies for students in the Diploma in University Studies was the rate at which they progressed from stage one to stage two of the Diploma, since at stage two they entered the first year of an undergraduate bachelor degree of their choosing. The Diploma in University Studies program was originally designed on the assumption that most of its students would study part-time and at a distance. While there have been a growing number of students enrolling full-time over recent years, many of these subsequently drop their fraction and take a longer time to complete stage one than originally intended. These complex patterns of engagement with the program are a result of the students’ complex lives and the many other responsibilities, expectations and time pressures impacting on their studies. One effect of this is that it is very difficult to obtain an overall snapshot of the progress of these students at any one point in time, or to make generalisations about their progression and transition rates in any particular year.
Between 1996 and 2002 the average transition rate for Diploma in University Studies students was 58 per cent, comparable to the transition rates for the second year of UniSA-PAL. As with their success rates, the transition rates into bachelor degree level study for the Diploma in University Studies students have varied across the years from a high of nearly 70 per cent in 1996 to a low of 39.5 per cent in 2001. The transition rates into university level study of students undertaking bridging programs across the country have, like their success rates, been the subject of recent policy and program concern at the national level. As cited in the 2001 DEST paper “The Enabling Program”, the investigation by Clarke et al showed that only 30 per cent of the students who commenced bridging programs in 1996 transferred to award courses between 1997 and 1999, noting that this is of particular concern given that the program was specifically established to provide an effective pathway into this level of study. Based on this data, the transition rates of both the 2003 UniSA-PAL students and average rates for Diploma in University Studies students are nearly twice as good as those for students in federally funded bridging programs, a significant outcome since their level of educational disadvantage is at least comparable and almost certainly greater than their peers in the bridging programs.