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This briefing note provides an update on domestic undergraduate student enrolment and equity outcomes from 2008 to 2015. In keeping with the earlier editions of this series, the briefing note focuses on undergraduate outcomes for 'Table A providers' in Australian higher education and enrolments in seven equity groups: (1) low socio-economic status ('low SES') students; (2) Indigenous students; (3) students with disabilities; (4) regional students; (5) remote students; (6) women in non-traditional areas (WINTA); and (7) non-English speaking background (NESB) students (also referred to as 'culturally and linguistically diverse' or 'CALD' students). It provides a guide to trends across equity groups during this period, which included substantial changes to Australian higher education, including the introduction of the demand driven system for enrolments and the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Programme (HEPPP) to support low SES undergraduate enrolments.

Results reveal that the rate of expansion in overall undergraduate enrolments in Australia appears to be tapering after several years of growth. However, this growth comes on the back of an historic expansion in enrolments in Australian higher education, one that has seen the system add an additional 184,668 places since 2008, an increase of 34.7 per cent. This has benefited equity student groups in particular, with most groups seeing increases in enrolment above the overall increase in system places, or in the case of regional students, just below average (33.1 per cent). The two exceptions are the WINTA (21.5 per cent) and remote (21.5 per cent) groups who saw substantially lower levels of expansion over this time. This differential growth across equity groups has resulted in a mix of outcomes in participation, with low SES and students with disability groups seeing marked increases in representation, with smaller increases seen in Indigenous and NESB groups. WINTA, regional and remote student groups have seen reductions in their share of total enrolments, albeit in the context of substantial expansions in enrolments among these student groups.

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This paper considers the impact of transfer credits on the [grade point average] GPA of college-university transfer students. The data come from the academic records of students enrolled at two different campuses at an undergraduate university in Ontario across a four-year period. The results from multivariate regression analyses show that the number of transfer credits is significantly associated with a higher GPA, controlling for student status (part time/full time), campus of study, cohort, semester of study, and previous college background. Further analysis suggests that the credit-GPA relationship is nonlinear, peaking at six transfer credits. These findings can be used to help inform individuals and institutions about the past performance of students as further refinements to transfer policies between institutions are undertaken.

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The degree to which students are able to make adequate repayments on their student loans and avoid default is of special concern for colleges. If too many former students go into default, the college will face sanctions by the federal government and lose eligibility to provide currently enrolled students federal financial aid, such as the Pell grant. To avoid these sanctions, some colleges have chosen not to participate in federal loan programs by excluding loans from students' financial aid packages. In this article, [the author] investigates the student-level impacts associated with the decision of community colleges to opt out of the Stafford loan program. Utilizing administrative records from over 50 community colleges located in a single state, [the author] estimates the within-college differences in outcomes for Pell-eligible students before and after an institution opts out of the federal loan program. [The author] finds that Pell-eligible students enrolling when the community college offered federal loans were 7.6 percentage points more likely to borrow than Pell-eligible students who enrolled when the institutions opted out. Overall, borrowing also increased by 368 US dollars a year. [The author] also finds that students borrowing a loan attempted 19 additional credits in their first year of enrollment and were more likely to attempt and complete math and science courses than non-borrowers.

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This research analyses the extent to which efforts to widen access to higher education have been successful, comparing Scotland with other parts of the UK. The report provides an analysis of: widening access policy levers; Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) headline data on applications, acceptances and entry rates by students from different social backgrounds across the UK; higher education initial participation rates in Scotland and the rest of the UK; UK differences in participation rates with regard to type of university and social background using Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data; cross-UK institutional comparisons using HESA benchmarks; and widening participation activity and debates in Scottish higher education institutions, particularly the ancient universities. Despite the need for UK cross-border comparisons following devolution, national differences in the school and higher education systems and in approaches to data gathering have made such comparisons difficult. This report uses a range of data sources to explore differences across the UK in higher education participation rates, the social profile of different institutions and approaches to widening access. The authors attempt to shed light on the way in which commonly used measures are compiled to facilitate public understanding of the statistics underpinning political discourse.

Overall, Scottish universities' efforts to widen access for students from poorer backgrounds have achieved only partial success. Based on the findings of this research, the report recommends that: (1) the Scottish government ensures that additional places are available to meet rising demand; (2) bridging programmes to encourage successful higher education destinations are expanded, alongside effective career and subject advice in schools; (3) a Commissioner for Fair Access is appointed to oversee progress on widening access, independent of government and universities; (4) both the Scottish Funding Council and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills provide a breakdown of the Higher Education Initial Participation Rate by social class and type of institution attended, to address gaps in the availability of administrative data to inform cross-border comparative analysis; and (5) widening participation initiatives are planned carefully to avoid duplication, and rigorous evaluation runs alongside implementation.

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Though online technology has generated excitement about its potential to increase access to education, most research has focused on comparing student performance across online and in-person formats. We provide the first evidence that online education affects the number of people pursuing formal education. We study Georgia Tech's Online M.S. in Computer Science, the earliest model to combine the inexpensive nature of online education with a highly regarded degree program. Regression discontinuity estimates exploiting an admissions threshold unknown to applicants show that access to this online option substantially increases overall enrollment in formal education, expanding the pool of students rather than substituting for existing educational options. Demand for the online option is driven by mid-career Americans. By satisfying large, previously unmet demand for mid-career training, this single program will boost annual production of American computer science master's degrees by about eight per cent. More generally, these results suggest that low cost, high quality online options may open opportunities for populations who would not otherwise pursue education.

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This paper reports on a study conducted in 2014 and 2015 that explored the accessibility of e-learning for students with disabilities studying fully online in Australia. The study looked at students studying through Open Universities Australia (OUA), which brings together 15 different higher education institutions to teach students fully online across a number of different fields. There are a number of advantages to studying online for students with disabilities. However, online students with a disability can become invisible and this can lead to unintended accessibility problems. This study explicitly employs the social model of disability and the notion that it is the constructed environment that disables people with impairments.

The study had two phases. Firstly, a survey that explored students' experience related to the accessibility of online learning and teaching platforms, and students' approach to disclosure of their disability and the effectiveness of any accommodation offered by the different institutions. The second phase of the research consisted of a series of interviews that expanded on the information collected in the surveys and also explored the accessibility of different approaches to learning and teaching and assessment. OUA invites students to nominate one of eight broad impairment categories when they identify themselves as a person with a disability and each of these eight broad categories is individually addressed in this report.

The findings of this research indicated that students with disabilities found that online study through OUA was a preferred way to access higher education. There was an unexpectedly high incidence of students with a mental illness (44.9 per cent of survey respondents) and medical impairments (39.2 per cent of survey respondents), with mobility impairments rounding out the top three categories (25.3 per cent of survey respondents). The finding of this prevalence was one of the major findings of this study, along with the impact of different impairments on learning technologies, learning and teaching strategies and attitudes towards disclosure. The report presents a number of recommendations related to policy and compliance, staff training, unit design, and assessment design and implementation.

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In response to UK government reports that only six per cent of people with learning difficulties are currently in employment, a taskforce was formed to examine the accessibility of apprenticeships for people with learning disabilities. The aim is to see training opportunities and apprenticeships made more accessible so that young people with learning disabilities are more easily able to enter the workforce. Working with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Education (DfE) the task force aimed to create three million apprenticeships by 2020 and halve the disability gap. The taskforce, led by Paul Maynard and including employers, training providers, charities and educational experts, met three times throughout May and June: once to identify issues, then to explore solutions and finally to form recommendations to make to ministers.

These two documents contain the recommendations of the taskforce and the response from the government response through BIS and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Show less

This chapter examines why typical reforms at community colleges in recent years have not improved institutional graduation rates. It argues that substantially increasing college completion requires comprehensive institutional reform with a focus on measurable student success, an intentional and cohesive package of programmatic components, and a culture of evidence. Show less

For refugees, the right to work is vital for reducing vulnerability, enhancing resilience, and securing dignity. Harnessing refugees' skills can also benefit local economic activity and national development. But there are many obstacles. Based on a sample of 20 countries hosting 70 per cent of the world's refugees, this study investigates the role and impact of legal and normative provisions providing and protecting refugees' right to work within the 1951 Refugee Convention as well as from the perspective of non-signatory states. Three metrics analyze the principle determinants of the right to work and labor market access: refugee and employment law, policies and practices that facilitate or constrain the right to work, and mediating socioeconomic conditions.

Overall the study finds remarkable diversity in legal provisions and constraints on refugees' right to work. A restrictive approach to the right to work prevails, and most states are reluctant to ease these restrictions. The majority of refugees work in the informal sector, but under much less satisfactory and more exploitative conditions compared with nationals. Informal labor markets are also constrained in countries with fragile economies which often host large numbers of refugees. Based on its findings, the study concludes that more national and international coordination is required, multiple actors should share in the responsibility to deliver decent work, labor market policies as well as training and education should be harnessed to support sustainable livelihoods, and refugee social capital should be more effectively engaged.

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In addressing some of the current challenges facing the Australian vocational education and training sector, [the presenter] stressed the importance of 'not wasting a good crisis' and using our opportunities to change the sector for the better. [The presenter] discusses the need to 'get the trust back' through evidence and research, and actually look at vocational education and training as not just about being about access but also making sure it's about employability.

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