Revealed: How many Qld uni students are completing their degrees

The number of students completing their degrees at Queensland universities can be revealed, as the state’s higher education sector receives a major boost. SEE THE FULL LIST.

Less than a third of students at four of the state’s eight universities are finishing their bachelor degrees, with Queensland holding the third lowest completion rate in the nation and sitting well below the national average, new data shows.

Bond University was the clear winner in the Department of Education’s analysis of four-year completion rates for domestic bachelor degree students commencing in 2019-2022, while the University of Southern Queensland had the lowest completion rate.

A UniSQ spokesman said the data does not account for the majority of the university’s domestic undergraduate students who complete their degrees as part-time students.

“UniSQ part-time domestic undergraduate students make up 63 per cent of our cohort and the on-time completion time for these students undertaking a three-year degree is six years.

“These enrolment patterns and other cohort characteristics are not accounted for in the data.

“UniSQ is committed to providing a supportive and flexible learning environment that accommodates the diverse needs of our students and, in 2023, launched a new academic calendar that allows our students to complete their studies more quickly.”

Meanwhile, Bond University Executive Dean of Law Professor Nick James said the private university’s smaller class sizes allowed for greater focus on student support.

“Bond places so much emphasis on the quality of student experience, and we have to because we are a private university where students have higher expectations on how they will be treated and looked after,” he said.

Queensland is the third worst for graduates.

“With smaller classes, academics can notice and report students who are not coming to class or students who are struggling, and we have a team of staff members who will reach out to students if they are aware they are having difficulties.”

More broadly, Queensland’s completion percentage is more than two percentage points below the national average, but the state came out ahead of NSW and the NT.

Andrew Norton, Professor of Higher Education Policy at Australian National University, believes migration helped to boost NSW and Victoria’s numbers.

“Well firstly, Queensland’s economy has a different skills profile to other states,” he said.

“But another issue is that this data is raw summary numbers including citizens, permanent residents and long-term temporary residents.

20/08/19 Andrew Norton is the Higher Education Program Director at the Grattan Institute. Aaron Francis/The Australian

“What that means is that it’s counting people here on temporary visas, including international students who already have a degree from another country.

“In my view, once you remove the temporary visa holders from those numbers, I’m sure the state-by-state the gaps would narrow, particularly because Sydney and Melbourne are magnets for migrants with degrees from a foreign university and they boost their numbers.”

Queensland’s higher education sector is set to receive a major boost from the federal government in the wake of the landmark Universities Accord Report, which was recently finalised and published 47 national recommendations after a year-long review.

The Universities Accord Report found Queensland has the lowest higher education attainment rate in the country, with just 37 per cent of the state’s 25-34 year olds having gone onto and completed further study.

Bond University on the Gold Coast.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare announced 10 new Regional University Study Hubs this week, to boost the existing network of 34 hubs across the country, as part of the response to the Universities Accord Report findings.

Queensland will get four of these 10 new hubs. They will be located in Warwick, Chinchilla, and Innisfail. The fourth will be a series of hubs in the state’s Central West – Longreach, Barcaldine, Blackall, Winton, Boulia, Bedourie, Birdsville and Jundah.

A spokesman for Queensland Education Minister Di Farmer said the state government welcomed the Accord Report findings, and the regional university hub announcement.

“The Final Report from the Universities Accord Panel Higher Education Review recommends higher education and vocational training sectors work more closely together to provide better access to higher education with greater equity and fairness,” the spokesman said.

“The recommendation to expand opportunities for students including First Nations students, students from low socio-economic backgrounds, those from regional, rural and remote areas and students aligns to our government’s Equity and Excellence Strategy for education, which is working to reduce barriers for all learners.”