May 21, 2013

Global Outlook: Why WE Should Continue to Invest in Higher Education

May. 21, 2013 at 08:00 AM | By David Harrington | Comment Count

Higher Education in Australia is in crisis. Recent austerity measures announced in April will result in $2.3 billion in cuts over four years, reducing institutional funding per student and potentially the quality of Australia’s tertiary education system. At this juncture, conveying the importance of investing in our tertiary structure for the long-term is evermore necessary and urgent. Why?

The standard of academic, social, and professional excellence we pursue for our students depends on how we resolve critical challenges present today:

the continuous rise of student numbers
disruptive learning models
our current outlook on university internationalization and student satisfaction.

Rise of Student Numbers

According to the Grattan Institute’s Mapping Australian Education report, student numbers have increased from around 30,000 in 1950 to nearly 1.2 million in 2010. While these figures include both domestic and international students, more than 40 percent of Australian adults are anticipated to hold a bachelor’s degree or above by 2025.

Why invest? Budget cuts to uni funding, for example the “efficiency dividend,” initiate loopholes that encourage institutions to recruit unlimited amounts of “qualified” candidates (qualified being the keyword here) to compensate losses. Critics claim this ambiguous interpretation of “qualified” will result in institutions recruiting and accepting students of “doubtful academic quality.”

What else does this involve?

A reduction in the amount of professional services offered to students on an individual basis as well as potential ramifications for institutional research.

MOOCs

If you haven’t noticed yet, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are everywhere; from Coursera in the U.S. – 7,000 Australian students registered in 2013 – to the University of New England’s proposed MOOC for university credit. MOOCs are quickly growing in popularity because they present an alternative to the traditional higher education model that is cost efficient, accessible to elite education experiences, and offers a flexible learning environment.

Why invest? MOOCs are not a panacea. They are an extension of traditional higher education that allows unis to impact on scale; giving students from around the world access to a world-class education. Institutions should align MOOCs to their strategy and decide their own outcomes.

International Students

Although universities have experienced declines in international enrollments due to several external factors - recent changes to student visa regulations and the General Skilled Mitigation program, cost of living increases, political controversy - a report by the International Education Advisory Council calculates a 30 percent uptick of international students in Australia by 2020 (from 402,000 in 2012 to 520,000).

Why invest? Today, 80 percent of international enrollments originate from Asia, with the largest population of students coming from China (27%). International students contribute to university by facilitating cross-cultural dialogue and multiculturalism that can result in significant impacts on academic research and the innovation and productivity of the country’s workforce.

Student Satisfaction

Student satisfaction is improving. The 2012 University Experience Survey, evaluating results from more than 110,000 participants, reports 80 percent of students rate their educational experience as good or excellent.

Why invest? Student engagement is an enormously complex issue to define. George Kuh, director of the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, defines student engagement as: “the time and energy students invest in educationally purposeful activities and the effort of institutions devote to using effective educational practices.”

Focusing our efforts on student satisfaction and engagement is critical for four reasons: retention, participation, achievement, and assessment. For example, the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement conducted in 2008, demonstrated distinct correlations between student satisfaction and student outcomes. Generally, students who possessed a high satisfaction with their education were less likely to transfer and/or stop out. Additionally, students with higher satisfaction rates were found to perform better academically, socially, and professionally.

Student assessment has grown in importance as a result of students playing a larger role in determining the value of their tertiary experience. As students become more consumer-minded, asking questions such as, “How will this degree help me post-matriculation,” competition among universities will elevate. Institutions will not only have to identify and employ new methods to convey their value to prospective students but also ensure they are providing quality pedagogy to all.

This article was fashioned from an interview conducted by Marlysa Connolly, Hobsons communications specialist, in May 2013.