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Lack of equitable access at the higher levels of university is detrimental to individuals and more broadly to economic productivity and social cohesion. This paper considers the nature and extent of under-representation in postgraduate and higher degree study and proposes responses at both the institutional and policy levels. Particular focus is given to low socio-economic and regional students within the Australian context. Major causes of postgraduate inequity include the pipeline effect, which is fuelled by institutional stratification and low levels of institutional mobility. Moreover, the influence of financial barriers and limited cultural capital does not 'wash out' during undergraduate study. Proposed institutional strategies include redirecting a proportion of equity scholarships to postgraduates, giving consideration to need in the allocation of postgraduate scholarships, and offering funded postgraduate places to selected disadvantaged students. At a policy level, suggestions include government targets for postgraduate participation, undergraduate debt remission, and increased postgraduate Commonwealth-supported places.

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Research indicates that students living in regional, rural and remote areas may be disadvantaged on at least two levels: family socioeconomic status (SES) and geographic location. Due to changes in the labour market that have resulted in an increasing demand for university-educated workers across Australia, the concentration of higher education institutions in capital cities perpetuates inequalities related to location. Despite policy efforts to increase the number of young people completing higher education degrees, students living in regional, rural and remote locations continue to lag behind their metropolitan counterparts in terms of educational outcomes. In this report, we have focused on the distribution of university campuses in regional Victoria. Given that the changes in the employment landscape across Australia have resulted in workers being increasingly likely to need post-secondary educational qualifications, it is timely to examine the opportunities available to non-metropolitan youth. By providing an overview of the 8 regional centres in which university campuses are located and the courses on offer at each of these campuses, our aim has been to highlight the ongoing disadvantages regional/rural youth face.

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Each year, a substantial number of recent high school graduates are lured away from their home states, provinces, or nations to attend colleges and universities. Using New Hampshire (U.S.) as a case study, this analysis examines the impact of the migration-for-education phenomenon upon home areas and offers a model that can be used to increase the rate of student retention, thereby benefiting both students and the region's tourism industry.

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In the wake of the Dawkins expansion of higher education, Australia acquired many very small campuses, typically satellites of regional universities. Rationalised primarily in terms of providing better access and equity, their present role and status are problematic. The advent of online education threatens to render them redundant, though an integration of online delivery with face-to-face tuition at distributed sites could be beneficial. Intensive university-community partnerships to develop regional economies promise a revitalised role but there is little debate about how far size matters. Lack of information about the present functions and effectiveness of small campuses suggests that poor strategic planning will continue to characterise these facilities.

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The self evaluation report for the State of Victoria (Australia) was prepared by the Victorian Government Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development, in collaboration with a number of higher educational institutions in the region, as an input to the OECD 'Reviews of higher education in regional and city development'. The report reflects the joint effort of higher education institutions (HEIs) and regional stakeholders in the State of Victoria to assess the impact that HEIs have had on regional development.

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This book describes the innovative transformation of higher education institutions (HEIs) across the world in response to the emerging realities of the twenty-first-century global, knowledge-based economy, as well as how HEIs are defining many of today's economic realities on a regional level. HEIs continue to drive economic development through their traditional roles of purchaser, employer, real estate developer, workforce developer, and community developer. But these roles now must be executed more strategically and collaboratively. Also, the twenty-first-century economy offers universities unique opportunities to generate the intellectual and financial capital that drives emerging knowledge-based industries. Case studies are drawn from urban and rural America, Europe, the Middle East, and emerging countries. Some of the topics covered include the role of university presidents as leaders of change; the relationship between higher education institutions and the political leadership of cities, states, and nations; successful models of partnerships between higher education and the private sector; and future challenges opportunities facing the modern university.

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Since 2014, deregulation of fees in universities has become a topical issue in Australian public discourse. As an untested policy in the country, the arguments for and against it suggest a lack of sound empirical basis for gauging how university-fee deregulation will affect different student cohorts. This paper presents a qualitative study of three regional localities in Western Australia (WA) and reveals that knowledge of the proposed deregulation of fees in Australian universities is low among students, teachers and parents who participated in the research. The study also found that research participants were concerned that fee deregulation in Australian universities might lead to fee increases. If this were to happen without commensurate social-support policies, most of the student respondents indicated that they: (1) feared being left with unusually high student debt; (2) might reconsider accessing higher educational altogether; and/or (3) would access higher education as mature-age students due to having to take gap years to work and save.

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University students living in rural, regional, and remote (RRR) areas of Australia face unique challenges including geographical isolation, lack of access to face-to-face support, and technological barriers. Additionally, RRR students from low-socioeconomic (low-SES) backgrounds experience multiple forms of disadvantage compared to their on-campus peers, and require additional study, learning, and social support. Partnerships between universities and local public libraries can enhance RRR low-SES student success through increased access to face-to-face support, reliable technologies, and study facilities. This exploratory research, led by five regional universities, presents the first national-level empirical data exploring how Australian public libraries and universities can work together to facilitate success for RRR low-SES students. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with public librarians from RRR low-SES communities across Australia.

Thematic analysis findings explore themes of librarians' perceptions of students as persons; the role of regional librarians in supporting RRR low-SES students; RRR low-SES students' access to learning support; and the critical elements of sustainable partnerships between RRR public libraries and universities. Key recommendations are provided to guide future partnerships between public libraries and universities, including building the foundations of partnerships; professional development to support partnerships; and recommendations for good partnership practices.

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Since 1990, the Australian higher education system has experienced ongoing reform resulting in the number of universities and student populations more than doubling. Despite this expansion, inequalities in access to higher education related to family background and location persist. Due to the concentration of higher education campuses in the capital cities of each Australian state, inequalities related to geographic location may be as important as those related to socio-economic status.

Our analysis of data collected by the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) research programme shows that students from regional and rural areas are less likely than their urban peers to enrol at university. Furthermore, this trend persists when levels of academic achievement at age 15 and Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) are accounted for. Given that demand for highly educated workers is increasing and that workers with no post-school qualifications are the most likely to experience unemployment or underemployment, the inaccessibility of educational opportunities may consign the current generation of non-metropolitan youth to extended periods of precarious employment.

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This report examines student equity stratification by field of education and institution. A large focus of the report is on student equity across selective institutions and disciplines, which we take to mean those that require a high achievement threshold for entry. Unequal representation within selective institutions and disciplines carries consequences for individuals, universities, professions, and the broader society. For individuals, access to selective institutions and disciplines is typically correlated with higher incomes, and perceptions of a better fit between qualifications and employment. For universities, raising student diversity within selective courses is important for both equity and learning quality. At the broader professional and societal levels, research suggests diverse graduate cohorts are critical for maximising economic efficiency and social cohesion (Wakeling, 2010).

The report examines two key research questions: (1) To what extent are equity group students underrepresented within selective study areas and institutions? (2) What are the course choices of high [Australian Tertiary Admission Rank] ATAR students from equity groups, and how might these choices inform our understanding of equity within selective disciplines and institutions? We begin by providing a background section on equity and selectivity, including reference to the international literature. The analysis section of this report covers six equity groups, including: Indigenous students, students from no-English speaking backgrounds (NESB), students from low [socioeconomic status] SES backgrounds, students from regional and remote areas, students with disability, and female students. Our quantitative analysis first maps equity access rates across institutions and courses, using the aggregated 'study areas' framework developed by the Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) survey reports. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for government, institutions, and the sector generally, with reference to policy recommendations. We close by outlining some limitations of our study and offer avenues of inquiry for future research.

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