Vina Afaj says she would use a local study hub,but still needs to commute hours to campus for science classes.Credit:Eddie Jim
Long and expensive commutes faced by thousands of students like Afaj and their alternative – the high costs of moving to the inner city – are a major barrier to university study,creating an educational divide between young Australians based on where they live.
Almost 45 per cent of Australians aged 25 to 34 have a university degree,but the proportion of those with degrees drops the further you get from the inner-city campuses. Just 15 per cent of young people from the Hawkesbury area,at the edge of northern Sydney,have a degree. In the Cardinia area on Melbourne’s south-east fringe,that figure is 19 per cent.
But setting up local study hubs for students in the outer suburbs of Australia’s capital cities could help,according to an interim review of universities that the federal government will respond to this week.
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The study hubs provide computer access,internet and study spaces,as well as in-person administrative and academic help,for local students regardless of where they go to university.
There are already 34 in operation in regional locations across the country,but the expert report says they should be expanded based on evidence they improve student participation,retention and completion rates,particularly for students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
In response to the recommendation,the Albanese government will spend $67 million to double the current number of study hubs – establishing 14 new suburban and 20 new regional ones.