Promoting access, increasing opportunities for university education: a study of mature-aged students from disadvantaged regions

This research, though conducted on a small sample of students at the University of Tasmania, has wider relevance for the policies and practices of other universities with regard to the recruitment and retention of mature aged students, especially from regions of rural and/or socio-economic disadvantage. Throughout the conduct of the four year study, three of those years spent tracking the academic progress of the students sampled, the main thrust of the research shifted from recruitment and selection to retention and support, in the light of the quantitative and qualitative data being analysed. This multi-phase, multi-dimensional study provides many layers of data to produce a holistic view of what it means to be a mature aged student recruited into a professional faculty of the university.

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