Study Abroad in Australia: Regional unis lower entry scores
Victorias unis lure students with lowered entry scores
By: Oliver Koester
January 21, 2006
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STUDENTS will find it easier to get into law, IT and nursing courses this year - but only if they are prepared to study in the bush.
As more than 40,000 students were last night offered a place at a Victorian university, new figures from the state's Tertiary Admissions Centre revealed entry scores for some courses had fallen, following a 2.5per cent decline in student demand for government-funded positions.
Cut-off scores for entry into courses in law, information technology, teaching and nursing fell particularly at regional campuses, reflecting a national trend of students opting for the big-name institutions.
Victoria University dropped the entry score for its Law/Science course by 6 points, from 93.8 to 87.8, while Deakin University lowered its cut-off for Law at Geelong by 7.85, from 88.05 to 80.2. But students needed 99.45 to study Law or a combined Law degree at Melbourne University after it increased its cut-off from 99.4.
Entry into some IT courses also became easier at La Trobe University, after the entry score for its IT course in Bendigo was lowered by 7.1 points, from 62.1 to 55 while an IT course at Deakin's Geelong campus fell by 4.8 points, from 60.55 to 55.75.
Despite Education Department figures indicating a 4per cent increase in demand for nursing, Ballarat University lowered the cut-off score for nursing at its Mount Helen campus in Central Victoria by 11.05 points, from 61.05 to 50.
Students would only need 55.55 to gain entry into nursing at La Trobe University's Albury-Wodonga campus after the cut-off was lowered by 7.25 points.
Demand for secondary school teaching was down by around 11per cent this year, with Ballarat University lowering the entry into its Education/Secondary Technology, Mathematics or Science course by 5.65 points to 53.95. The Australian Catholic University dropped the entry for its Teaching/Arts degree by 11.3 points, from 81.65 to 70.35.
According to VTAC figures, almost 17,000 people missed out on the first-round offers, resulting in the Victorian Government again blaming the federal Government decision to allow institutions to increase HECS fees by 25 per cent. "We do know that particularly the increase in HECS, that policy decision that was taken by the federal Government to increase the cost of HECS has led to many young people deciding that university is not an affordable option for them," the Acting Education Minister Jacinta Allan said yesterday.
But Ms Allan could only refer to anecdotal evidence for the claim. "The best evidence I have is young people telling me directly that they're deterred, and put off by the costs of education," she said.
A spokesman for federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson said "there is no correlation between university applications and their changes to HECS". "What is clear is that with record levels of low unemployment and more opportunities in apprenticeships and training, young people and mature age students have a much broader range of options," the spokesman said.
Resource: The Australian - January 17, 2006 |
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