Commonwealth funded student places address skills shortages

A total of 890 new places will be available to give more students from under represented backgrounds the opportunity to study at the University of Adelaide.

The new Commonwealth supported places (CSPs) are part of the Federal Government’s commitment to fund 20,000 additional university places nationwide, targeted to give more Australians the opportunity to study in areas of national priority.

The University of Adelaide’s Professor Jennie Shaw, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) welcomed the Federal Government’s support for the new places.

“We are committed to making education a more accessible, relevant and enriching experience for a more diverse range of students, preparing them for future workforce success and enabling lifelong learning,” she said.

“Our undergraduates enjoy a flexible and rich experience as part of a community of life-long learners.

“These extra places will give people who might not otherwise have experienced the benefit of a university education, the opportunity to go to become leaders in their chosen fields.”

The focus of the new places is on increasing participation for regional and remote students, those from low socio-economic backgrounds, students with a physical or mental disability, First Nations students, women in STEM, and those who are first in family to study at university.

The new places, which will boost the number of students in areas where there are existing skills shortages or future need include:

• nursing;
• engineering;
• teaching
• speech pathology;
• occupational therapy;
• psychological science
• health and medical science
• media, including multimedia and digital media
• law; and
• selected career paths in arts and humanities (including marketing specialist, interpreter, project administrator, youth worker, music professional)

Jobs in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) are predicted to grow twice as fast as non-STEM jobs.

“The University of Adelaide’s existing undergraduate courses in information technology, computer science, digital media and engineering are focussed on providing students with the skills in national shortage areas and directly align with future employment growth in professional scientific, technical and digital media design and services,” said Professor Shaw.

“Courses in teaching will allow students to build capacity in all teaching areas, especially in science, maths and computer science, and fill existing teacher needs in these areas.

“The need to attract health workers to, and derive better health outcomes in, low socioeconomic, regional and remote jurisdictions is being addressed by courses in allied health, health and medical science and nursing offered by the University.”

Students who take up the additional places will be supported in their studies through the University’s existing programs such as the Maths Learning Centre, Writing Centre, and the Wiltu Yarlu Academic Mentoring Program.

The 890 CSPs will be for newly enrolled students who commence their courses in 2023 and 2024.