Are you a neighbourhood or a national uni?
Student demand patterns are changing over time, with analysis from Curtin showing the possibility of a split between neighbourhood universities, which rely on students enrolling from nearby, and national institutions, with a much wider catchment.
Gemma Cadby, from Curtin’s Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success is sharing selected highlights from research her team are currently undertaking, examining where students come from to attend university.
By examining the first address of enrolling students and categorising them in SA2 regions (small geographic Statistical Areas determined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics) Associate Professor Cadby and her team have observed enrolment trends appearing to fall into two broad categories. Some, like Victoria University, attract the large majority of students from Victoria, while UTAS attracts a larger proportion of students from every State and Territory.
The heat map from the ACSES team is above.
The team have not settled on clear explanations for trends yet, but the patterns will be of interest across the tertiary sector.
“Are we starting to see a split between national and local universities? How much of this comes from online students? And what might this mean for student mobility and equity of access?” Associate Professor Adby asks in her latest post.
Changes in student demand and the potential for greater mobility within Australia post COVID have been the subject of much speculation in recent years – meaning there will be ongoing interest in the team’s findings.
