Jason Clare’s plan to bring university education to the suburbs

Education Minister Jason Clare will bring university education to the outer suburbs with a new $67m plan for student study hubs.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare. Picture: Liam Kidston

Education Minister Jason Clare says he will bring university education to the suburbs with a $67m plan to set up student study hubs in suburban and ­regional areas where universities don’t operate.

“I want more young people from the outer suburbs and the regions to get a crack at going to university, and this will help,” he said in a preview of the findings of his major university review to be announced on Wednesday.

He said the opportunity to study at university should not be just for people living within 10km of the CBD.

Mr Clare said that up to 14 new suburban university study hubs would be set up to allow people to do a ­degree in a location near them rather than be forced to spend time on a long commute to a university ­campus.

In addition, the government will establish up to 20 more ­regional study hubs in country Australia, following the success of the 34 hubs already operating in regional areas, which have been successful in helping students from the bush through their ­degree.

The regional study hubs, first introduced by the ­Coalition in 2019, typically offer students computer terminals, high speed internet, video conferencing, printers, scanners and a ­textbook library. Many also offer academic support and workshops in study skills.

The hubs are also available to help students doing vocational qualifications at TAFEs and universities, as well as pathway courses for university entry.

At the moment, all the study hubs are in regional areas but Mr Clare said it was important to expand them to the suburbs to boost the number of people with university degrees.

“A lot of Australians in their 20s and 30s have a university degree, but not in the outer suburbs and not in the regions. I want this to change, and that means bringing university closer to them,” he said.

Outer suburban areas in Australia’s major cities currently have some of the lowest proportions of people to have completed a university degree.

Nationally, nearly 45 per cent of 25- to 34-year-old Australians have a bachelor degree or higher, but the Logan local government area in Brisbane’s south has a degree completion rate of 15 per cent among 25- to 34-year-olds.

Other outer suburban local government areas with low degree completion rates include Brighton in Hobart (9 per cent), Playford in Adelaide (10 per cent), and Rockingham in Perth (12 per cent).

The expansion of student study hubs follows a recommendation to Mr Clare in the Australian ­Universities Accord interim report, which called for more study hubs.

The report says the new hubs “could improve participation, retention and completion for students in outer metropolitan and peri-urban areas, especially those from low SES backgrounds”.

The government says early evidence on the impact of the study hubs shows they increase the number of students who complete degrees.