1. 2016 Attrition Preliminary Analysis (2015 Cohort Year)
Prepared by the Office of Strategic Planning and Information
19 June 2017

2. CSU Attrition by Mode and Course Level

3. 1st Year Attrition: CSU v Sector Comparison
CSU YoY Change %
CSU Change Since 2012
2014 Sector
Postgrad Internal
9.05%
1.8%
-3.79%
14.9%
Postgrad Online
26.01%
1.6%
0.62%
28.1%
Undergrad Internal
15.90%
0.9%
2.14%
16.6%
Undergrad Online
33.36%
-0.3%
3.75%
35.7%
CSU Attrition Rates are broadly increasing, though remain lower than the latest available sector rates.
Due to the nature of the available sector information, attrition rates cannot be obtained per course attendance mode in combination with other demographic and institutional factors. Considering the vastly different attrition rates observed between internal and online students, and CSU’s atypical proportion of Online students, this means that comparisons to the sector in terms of other demographic splits are not informative.
Note: Postgrad Internal figures for CSU are based off a low cohort total, and essentially reflect the Study Group Australia partnership.
Scope:
Attrition = First Year Attrition (Proportion of students who commence one year and don’t return to study in the subsequent year.)
CSU data up to 2015 Cohort Year (students commencing in 2015, tracking their behaviour in 2016)
Sector Data for 2014 Cohort Year (commencing 2014, tracking 2015)
PG = Postgrad Coursework
UG = Bachelor Level
Sector = Australian Universities

4. Undergraduate Attrition

5. Undergraduate Attrition by Mode
The attrition rate among commencing Bachelor level students continues to grow slowly for the Internal cohort
The online attrition rate has steadied after two years of increase
These rates remain consistent with both the long-term CSU average and sector average, and reinforce the fact that attrition rates are significantly different per attendance mode.
Scope: CSU First year Attrition, Bachelor Level Courses

6. Undergraduate Attrition by Mode and Faculty
The Faculty of Arts and Education has seen a large increase in Internal Undergraduate Attrition this year (up 6pp), and is considerably above the university and sector averages (15.9% and 16.6% respectively).
Conversely, Internal Undergraduate Attrition in the Faculty of Science remains below the university average, and continues to improve.
Attrition rates amongst Online Undergraduate students are reasonably consistent between Faculties, all within a few percentage points, and all slightly below last year’s sector average for Online Undergraduates (35.7%).
Note: Current Faculty structures are extrapolated back to previous years, so past year figures represent groupings that have not been reported previously.

7. Undergraduate Attrition by Mode and Basis of Admission
Domestic students
The TAFE cohort shows the highest attrition rate for Commencing Undergraduate students. This is consistently higher than other cohorts, and is also the most variable.
The Higher Ed Basis of Admission cohort Attrition rate remains below the average, but has increased steadily over five years (up 6pp / 68% in this period)
For Online Undergraduates, the Secondary Ed basis of admission cohort Attrition Rate is particularly variable, while the others are reasonably steady. The exception is the Special Entry cohort which, while based on quite a low cohort size, have shown steady improvement over five years.

8. Undergraduate Attrition by Mode and Indigeneity
The 2015 Attrition Rate has dropped significantly for Indigenous students in Internal, Bachelor Level Courses (down 3.2 pp) which represents a break to the recent trend of increasing attrition rates.
Similar to the trend for internal students, the attrition rate for Indigenous Students studying Online has dropped considerably (down 4.4pp) following increases since 2012
Although attrition among Indigenous Students remains higher than the university average, the drop in attrition rates this year for Indigenous Students in both Internal and Online study is in contrast to the overall trend, representing a relative improvement.

9. Undergraduate Attrition by Mode and Gender
Attrition Rates for Male students remain consistently and considerably higher than for Females studying in CSU Internal Bachelor level courses.
The Attrition Rate among Males remains higher than among Females studying CSU Online Bachelor Level Courses.
Attrition among Male students has increased for the previous two years, both for Online and Internal students.

10. Postgraduate Attrition

11. Postgraduate Attrition by Mode
CSU’s Postgraduate attrition has increased in the last reported year after consistent improvement since 2011
Attrition Rates remain below last year’s sector averages (Internal %, Online %)
The Internal Postgraduate attrition rate is based on a small cohort size, and generally reflects the partnership arrangement with Study Group Australia – for this reason it is not explored further

12. Online Postgraduate Attrition by Faculty
The Faculty of Arts and Education shows a higher attrition rate than the other Faculties from Online Postgraduate Courses.
This reflects the fact that Education, Health, and Society and Culture fields of education tend to exhibit the highest attrition rates sector-wide, and this Attrition rate of 28.6% is still in line with the Sector Average for Postgraduate Online study (28.1%).
The Faculty of Science has seen a steady increase in attrition since 2012 (up 3.7pp in this period), although these rates remain inline with the university average of 26.0%.

13. Online Postgraduate Attrition by Indigeneity
Attrition among Indigenous Students is comparable to the University average over the past two years, after a significant improvement in 2014.
The Indigenous Student Cohort is quite small for Online Postgraduate study, meaning this figure is likely to be affected by the demographic spread across other factors such as gender, faculty, or field of education.

14. Online Postgraduate Attrition by Gender
In the past two years, the previously very similar attrition rates among Females and Males have diverged, with attrition among Females increasing by 3pp in this period.
This contrasts with the Undergraduate figures, where Males had a higher Attrition Rate across both modes of study.
Comparisons to the sector here are not informative due to the high proportion of internal students sector-wide, and the distinction between online and internal attrition rates.

15. Information/Data Source
1st Year Attrition pivot (CSU)
National Attrition pivot
Scope
1st Year attrition rates
Undergrad – Bachelor Level Courses
Postgrad – PG by Coursework, and Other Postgrad Courses
Notes
Due to the Faculty Restructure in 2016, year on year comparisons use the current faculty structure, and as such will be different to Faculty level results published in previous years.
The Internal Postgraduate cohort has not been explored in the same detail as the other cohorts as it reflects the Study Group Australia partnership, which renders many other demographic splits irrelevant.