Deakin University’s drop-out rate at 14.66 per cent, report reveals

KEEPING online students engaged remains one of Deakin University’s biggest challenges as it strives to cut the number of students dropping out.

A new report has revealed the drop-out rates of universities around Australia, including Deakin. Picture: Mitch Bear

KEEPING online students engaged remains one of Deakin University’s biggest challenges as it strives to cut the number of students dropping out.

Deakin University has a drop-out rate of 14.66 per cent. This mid-tier result is far higher than the top performer the University of Melbourne, where only 3.92 per cent of students dropped out in 2015, but far better than Australia’s worst performer the University of Tasmania — where 33 per cent, or more than one in five, of students dropped out.

The data, published in the Federal Government’s Improving retention, completion and success in higher education report, has led to recommendations for each university to develop student retention strategies.

Deakin’s deputy vice chancellor (of) education Beverley Oliver said the university needed to better understand why students were dropping out and whether they were transferring to different universities.

“We are towards the top of the pack,” Professor Oliver said.

“When people who leave us don’t tell us (that is a concern).

“We need to wrap ourselves around a student’s mindset and are most interested in finding out if a student leaves us because of something we have done.”

Prof Oliver said Deakin’s already developed targeted student retention strategy was aimed at its three core student groups — bachelor students, mature aged students and cloud students.

While Prof Oliver could not say which degrees had the highest drop-out rates she said retaining online students remained the university’s biggest challenge.

“It is clear that some of the students (that) are hardest to make sticky, to keep, are cloud students,” Prof Oliver said.

“One in four students are fully online and they are largely working and caring professionals. “When life gets tough and a child gets ill they disengage from the only unit — and they’re dropping out.”

Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham said the report’s 18 recommendations focused on providing better guidance to school leavers and mature aged students before university enrolment and the introduction of retention strategies and benchmarks.

“We want students to make informed study choices, to be engaged and supported throughout their studies and ultimately complete their higher education qualifications,” Mr Birmingham said.

“It’s clear there is still room for improvement with attrition rates having remained at a similar level for over a decade now.”

Universities Australia Chief Executive Designate Catriona Jackson welcomed the Government’s decision to adopt the report’s 18 recommendations.

“These recommendations build on the incredible work undertaken by universities to keep attrition low at a time where there are more students than ever in higher education,” Ms Jackson said.

Originally published as Deakin University’s drop-out rate at 14.66 per cent, report reveals