For institutions intent on improving their research student outcomes, it is important to identify the variables most strongly associated with timely or tardy completions, which the university has the potential to influence or amend. For this to occur the analyses of doctoral completion times need to be conducted at an institution or discipline…

Australia is following a global trend in doctoral education policy to improve PhD completion times and rates. It is widely believed that accurate data on PhD completion are needed to assess the success of reforms and drive changes in doctoral education. In this article, new national completion data (2005-2018) provided by the Australian Department…

Drawing on demographic data collected from interviews with 50 Indigenous Australians with a doctoral qualification and 33 of their supervisors, this paper provides the first detailed picture of Indigenous doctoral education in Australia, with the focus on study modes, age of candidates, completion times and employment. It also analyses data…

This article presents estimates of the private monetary benefits in Australia associated with the completion of Bachelor degrees for a range of fields of study under a range of different assumptions. For the average person, results show strong monetary incentives to complete these degrees and the private rate of return compares favourably with the…

People studying an additional language in adult life do so through a diverse mix of self-directed and institutionally-situated efforts, extending over many years; and online and distance mode language learning offer increasingly flexible opportunities for formal study. Little is known, however, of the ways that long-term learners combine…

The current methodology of estimating load in the following year at Flinders University has achieved reasonable accuracy in the previous capped funding environment, particularly at the university level, due largely to our university having stable intakes and student profiles. While historically within reasonable limits, variation in estimates at…

The global growth in postgraduate (PG) study since the mid-1990s has been attributed to the expansion in Masters by Coursework participation (Bekhradnia, B. (2005). Postgraduate education in the UK: Trends and challenges higher education policy institute. Paper presented at a conference "The future of postgraduate education supporting the…

This study reports the results of a survey of student study times and perceptions of workload in undergraduate and graduate accounting courses at a large Australian public university. The study was in response to student feedback expressing concerns about workload in courses. The presage factors of student workload and assessment in Biggs' 3P…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of participation in workplace learning among senior secondary students in Australia. Work placements are deemed to be effective if they meet policy objectives of improving student transitions by (a) enhancing Year 12 completion rates and (b) increasing the engagement of…

In the aftermath of the global financial crisis (GFC), one understandable area of scrutiny and pressure for reform is the educational background and professionalism of personal financial advisers. This Australian study reports on a three-year investigation into students' perceptions of "scaffolded" instruction in financial planning. The…

Work and study commitments of full-time undergraduate students at the University of New South Wales were investigated in four surveys conducted in 1994, 1999, 2006 and 2009. Respondents to the surveys reported the amount of time they spent during term time in paid employment, studying outside of formal class hours and in leisure activities (1999…

This paper is about the way in which young people are increasingly adopting dual identities--worker and learner--during the long transition from full-time student to full-time worker. Part-time jobs undertaken while in full-time education provide opportunities for learning about work and may lead to full-time careers in the same industry area.…

Estimates of the relative net private, social, and institutional costs indicate that the private and social costs of part-time education may be significantly below those of full-time study, but that the institutional costs may be higher. (Author)

Retention at university matters. It matters morally, as we know the life chances of people who complete a degree are dramatically improved. It matters financially, as students who leave a university before graduation take their fees with them. And it matters nationally, as the higher the education level of the population, the greater the nation's…

Presents the results of an analysis of comparative recurrent expenditure for part-time and full-time enrollments at 19 colleges of advanced education. Results suggest that a part-time enrollment costs less than a full-time enrollment, but that the appropriate weight exceeds .5. (Author/IRT)