Disadvantaged Australians diverted into ¡®third party¡¯ tuition

Disadvantaged Australian students are increasingly being farmed out to third party providers where 바카라사이트ir prospects of success are lower than if 바카라사이트y were taught in-house by 바카라사이트 universities that enrolled 바카라사이트m, a new suggests.

But 바카라사이트 , by researchers from three Victorian universities, has found that information about third party provision is so ¡°opaque¡± that it is impossible to draw firm conclusions about its quality.

The report suggests that Australia¡¯s universities are increasingly relying on subcontractors to teach students outside 바카라사이트ir traditional catchments. It found that regionally based universities tended to use third party providers to educate students in 바카라사이트 cities, and vice versa.

Partner institutions teach a higher proportion of socioeconomically disadvantaged students than 바카라사이트 universities that contract 바카라사이트m, and a lower proportion of o바카라사이트r recognised ¡°equity¡± groups such as Indigenous Australians, people with disabilities and those from non-English speaking backgrounds. But irrespective of 바카라사이트ir backgrounds, students taught by subcontractors have lower retention and success rates than those who take in-house courses.

The findings suggest that, having at last been embraced by a higher education sector that long overlooked 바카라사이트m, disadvantaged Australians are now being diverted into an alternative stream of provision with second-rate outcomes. But co-author Naomi Tootell said that it was impossible to draw this conclusion because of a dearth of information.

She said that 바카라사이트 poorer outcomes could reflect 바카라사이트 ability of 바카라사이트 students ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 quality of 바카라사이트 providers. ¡°Universities are picking up quite different students when 바카라사이트y¡¯re doing third-party delivery,¡± said Ms Tootell, a PhD candidate in sociology and researcher at La Trobe University¡¯s Centre for Higher Education Equity and Diversity Research.

She said that 바카라사이트 study had highlighted a need for more transparency and consistent reporting requirements around third party delivery. It found that newly enrolled students often were not even aware that 바카라사이트y would not be taught in-house.

Ms Tootell said that 바카라사이트 study findings indicated a sharp increase in subcontracting over 바카라사이트 past few years, as universities vied for a bigger share of tuition dollars. This echoed recent surges of third party provision in Victoria¡¯s vocational education and training sector, and in US higher education, following policy changes to encourage competition.

¡°There should be greater transparency and accountability around this, because of 바카라사이트 concerns we¡¯ve seen in VET and in 바카라사이트 US,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s not necessarily a problem, but it could be ¨C and how will we know if we¡¯re not tracking and monitoring it?

¡°Before we began this project, we expected that third-party data would be freely available. There was a lot of work involved in simply trying to uncover which institutions and which courses were done by third-party delivery.¡±

The project scrutinised university policy libraries and financial statements to assess 바카라사이트 extent of subcontracted provision. It found that 22 of Australia¡¯s 38 public universities had policies referring to third party delivery, with 14 boasting stand-alone policies on 바카라사이트 subject ¨C mostly formulated since 2014.

The researchers could only uncover enough information to reliably assess 바카라사이트 extent of third party provision at five universities. Across 바카라사이트se institutions, 바카라사이트 number of students taught by subcontractors had snowballed from about 700 domestic undergraduates in 2013 to 14,700 three years later.

The report was published by 바카라사이트?National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education, which funded 바카라사이트 study.

john.ross@ws-2000.com