Admission and success for low SES university students: Report on a HEPPP 2018 National Priorities Pool Project

The title for the commissioned project was Admission and success for low SES university students. The aims of the project were formulated as follows.

The multivariate models produced by this project will provide a framework for the analysis and evaluation of admission and support practices of Australian universities. Admission policies will be considered in terms of the need to take into account all relevant aspects of a student’s background. Support schemes will be evaluated against their capacity to help students cope with multiple factors and issues. This analysis will result in practical recommendations for admission practices, and support services and practices, for low SES student retention and success.

The extensive investigation and analysis conducted in four universities suggested that the more significant recommendations for practice would refer to retention and success, rather than to admission. This conclusion was supported by the Productivity Commission report (2019 p. 2); which also underscored the importance of the project.

The growing risk of students dropping out of university requires attention. On average, the additional students need greater academic support to succeed. While universities had strong incentives to expand student numbers, the incentives for remedial support are weak.

This quotation points to the key directions for the implications and guidelines drawn from this project. The Productivity Commission is essentially saying that universities have become very good at admission, but not so good at support. Universities have become good at opening the door to low SES students and expanding the intake, but it has been a revolving door. The key findings from the project are, therefore, those about providing forms of support which boost retention and success.