Federation University has defended its enrolment figures after data from the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) showed a sharp decrease in first-round applications.
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Figures from VTAC showed the university suffered a 22.7 per cent decrease in first-round applications compared to last year.
While the university's first-round applications dropped significantly, its overall VTAC offers has increased.
As of January 15, FedUni has made 1094 total domestic VTAC offers for higher education courses, up six per cent from the previous year's total of 1032.
This was more than Melbourne University, which saw a 5.7 per cent growth from last year but less than Monash University, which increased by 6.6 per cent.
Both Melbourne and Monash universities also saw drops in first-round application numbers (2.7 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively), however nowhere near as significantly as FedUni.
FedUni vice-chancellor and president Helen Bartlett said the first-round application figures may not be telling the full story when it comes to enrolment at the university, suggesting they were on track for an increase in enrolment.
"Our VTAC offers have increased by six per cent compared to last year and our direct applications, which account for two-thirds of our enrolments, are also tracking higher," she said in a statement.
We expect an overall increase in student enrolments when the figures are finalised in the coming weeks.
- Federation University vice-chancellor and president, Professor Helen Bartlett
The first-round applications do not include direct applications, which make up the majority of the university's enrolments.
The most recent figures surrounding enrolment in the university from 2018 showed student enrolments increased 12.1 per cent to 23,444 across the university and TAFE.
Some tertiary education experts have linked the drop to the state government's free TAFE program, according to other media outlets.
Tertiary education sector consultant Clair Field said the free TAFE initiative appeared to be drawing students away from some universities, particularly the technical institutes.
"For some students, being able to graduate without a debt is important to them," she told The Age.
This could also be the case in Ballarat, which saw more than 500 students sign up for one of its 23 free TAFE courses in 2019.
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