Executive summary

This Fellowship report highlights the extent to which part-time students, who make up 35% of all domestic Australian university students, are juggling competing responsibilities, such as caring and work commitments. This report includes analysis of 2024 sector data, detailed student-level data from domestic students enrolled in 2022 and 2023 at four Australian universities, interview responses from 965 part-time students from 35 Australian universities, and 80 follow-up semi-structured interviews. This report highlights that part-time students on average have lower rates of success and retention, and are more likely to belong to an equity group than full-time students. The students who participated in the research demonstrated that although they were incredibly dedicated to their studies, university cannot always be their number one priority. In many instances, students require flexibility and support to succeed:

“They don’t care what you have had to juggle just to turn up to class, and that’s the tricky thing with part-time study … We are treated like we are less committed, when it’s the opposite, we are on average a lot more committed.”

Australian universities are designed for students who no longer make up the majority. The Australian Universities Accord set the ambitious target of tertiary attainment of 80% of the working age population by 2050. To meet this need, the Accord acknowledged that the higher education system needs to be more equitable, and this report provides evidence-based recommendations that should be adopted to achieve this.

Universities should review workload policies to ensure that academics have adequate time for quality learning and teaching. Special consideration policies should be reviewed to meet the needs of modern students, with work and caring commitments listed as acceptable reasons, and all students should have access to no-questions-asked extensions. Maximum-time-to-complete policies should allow sufficient time for a part-time student to complete their degree at the lowest rate the university allows students to enrol (for example, one unit per semester). Student load policies should be simplified so that any student studying 0.75 equivalent full-time study load (EFTSL) across a calendar year has the benefits of a full-time student. In addition, more clarity should be provided at admission regarding compulsory activities and timetabling.

State governments should provide discounted public transport for all students studying on campus. States provide free public transport to the football; yet, part-time, on-campus students pay full fare to travel to university, and this is inequitable.

The federal government should provide access to Youth Allowance, Austudy and Tertiary Access Payments to part-time students, and scholarships and PhD stipends should be tax exempt. This aligns with Recommendations 15 and 26 of the Universities Accord.

It is time to start designing our universities for the new normal.

Recommendations

University workload policies should provide adequate time and resourcing for:

Recommendation 1: Quality learning and teaching, including academic workload for:

• academics to connect, engage, and empathise with students
• high-quality units with consistent layout and clear expectations
• learning content to be released early
• all classes to be recorded
• opportunity to connect with peers.

Universities leaders should ensure that policies and procedures address:

Recommendation 2: Student load policy. Any student studying 0.75 EFTSL or higher across a calendar year should have access to the benefits of a full-time student.

Recommendation 3: Equity in work-integrated learning (WIL) placements. Part-time students should be able to complete part-time placements, and students with industry experience should receive fair recognition of prior learning.

Recommendation 4: Minimising compulsory activities. Information on compulsory classes and timetabling should also be more transparent at enrolment.

Recommendation 5: Access to no-questions-asked extensions. Special consideration policies should also be revised to allow work and caring responsibilities as reasons to apply, and disability access plans should provide access to automatic extensions.

Recommendation 6: Equitable access to scholarships. Many part-time students are under considerable financial constraints and should have access to university scholarships.

Recommendation 7: Promotion of success. Resubmissions should be allowed for near-miss fails, and failing students should be the last resort.

Recommendation 8: Part-time study patterns. Students require clear advice around study patterns, and maximum-time-to-complete policies should be reviewed to ensure that they are equitable for part-time students.

Recommendation 9: Shared campus facilities. Having a reciprocal study space agreement between universities could benefit many students.

State governments should legislate changes to allow:

Recommendation 10: Public transport discounts. These should be based on mode, not load. States provide free public transport to the football; yet, part-time, on-campus students pay full fare to travel to university, and this is inequitable.

Federal government should legislate changes to allow:

Recommendation 11: Access to government financial support. Part-time students should qualify for Youth Allowance, Austudy, and Tertiary Access Payments.

Recommendation 12: Tax-free scholarships. Part-time students pay tax on scholarships and PhD stipends, whereas full-time students do not. This is not equitable.

The full report is available for download in PDF [2 MB] or Word [2 MB] format.