NSW unis score top marks for student retention

August 27, 2013

New South Wales universities are among the best in the country for student retention, according to The Good Universities Guide 2014.

The University of Newcastle, Charles Sturt University and the University of Wollongong all received five stars in the Guide’s new ‘Student Retention’ rating, placing them among the top universities in the country for retaining their students through to a second year of study.

The University of New South Wales, University of Technology Sydney and Macquarie University came in just behind, receiving four stars for ‘Student Retention’, which is the first rating of its kind in Australia.

So what is the secret to strong student retention?

The University of Wollongong’s Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor John Patterson, attributes the university’s strong retention ratings to its development of peer-to-peer support programs, its ability to target students at risk and its range of support services, including several that focus on the first-year experience.

“UOW views its good retention outcome as a reflection of the overall student engagement and experience, appropriate support for cohorts of commencing students, and a close alignment between the degree as described to the student when they are making their decision and the reality as delivered,” Professor Patterson said.

“Given this, retention should be a factor in a potential student choosing a university. Strong retention helps build a sense of university community.”

Likewise, UNSW’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Fred Hilmer, said that the university’s strong retention ratings are just as much a result of the university’s focus on student pathway programs and student support as they are of the high-achieving student cohort it attracts.

“Our peer mentoring programs have proved to be very effective, as has our recently introduced early intervention initiative, which involves support officers targeting and helping students who may benefit from additional assistance," Professor Hilmer said.

The ratings have been released amid concerns about the effect that the demand-driven funding system will have on student retention rates as increased numbers of ‘at risk’ students are admitted into the higher education sector.

Professor Hilmer stressed the importance of providing disadvantaged students with the tools to succeed at university as well as opportunities for university admission.

“In particular, any endeavour to expand opportunity for disadvantaged students must take into account not just access to university, but the prospects for success,” he said.

The Armidale-based University of New England was the only university in the state to perform poorly in the rating, receiving only one star for ‘Student Retention’.

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