Open access enabling courses: risking academic standards or meeting equity aspirations

ABSTRACT

Open access enabling courses have experienced growth in Australia. The growth is evidenced in student enrolments and the number of public and private institutions offering such courses. Traditionally these courses have provided a second chance to many students from various equity groups who have been unable to access tertiary education due to poor academic achievement in high school or lack of post-secondary education. In recent years, open access enabling courses have attracted both young and mature-age students from mid and high socio-economic backgrounds, and international students. Open access enabling courses are similar to final year of high schooling and enable students to access degree courses. These courses are not regulated and not part of Australian Qualifications Framework and nor are they subject to any external accreditation or assessment. This paper argues that in the quest to achieve equity aspirations in the absence of appropriate regulation and accreditation in a rapidly expanding market, institutions are at risk of failing to monitor the academic quality and standards and the extent to which students are prepared for success in undergraduate study.

KEYWORDS:

• Enabling courses
• open access
• academic quality
• academic standards
• academic risk
• equity

Notes on contributors

Mahsood Shah is an Associate Professor and Deputy Dean (Learning and Teaching) with the School of Business and Law at CQUniversity, Australia. In this role, he is responsible for enhancing the academic quality and standard of programs delivered by the Business School.

Robert Whannell has worked for a number of years in tertiary bridging programs at a number of universities in Australia. He has also taught in initial teacher education programs. His research Masters and PhD projects investigated the experiences and challenges of nontraditional students gaining access to tertiary education through a tertiary bridging program. One of his principle areas of research has focused on identity development for people in educational transitions.