News

Brenton Stacey
Public relations officer
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

A record number of students are choosing to complete their higher education in a Christian context according to the latest enrolment figures from Avondale College.

Enrolment for semester one this year is 1309, 34 more than the previous semester one record. This equates to 573.88 when measured as equivalent full-time student load, an increase of almost 16 over semester one this past year.

The increase is in non-postgraduate courses, thanks in part to Helping Hands. Seventy-four new students enrolled because 52 current students registered to recruit them as part of the new mentoring and recruitment initiative. The Bachelor of Nursing (259) remains the most popular course at Avondale, despite the size of classrooms on the Sydney campus limiting the number of students enrolled. Avondale has now set up a waiting list for the course. Enrolment in postgraduate courses decreased, despite the number of Doctor of Philosophy students increasing from three this past year to a record nine this year. Enrolment in the Vocational Education and Training sector also decreased, predominately because of the closure of the business certificate courses.

The number of undergraduate students studying off campus (excluding postgraduates and those studying by distance education) continues to increase, to a record 535. However, the number on campus decreases, to 338, which is about the number who studied on campus in 2000. The Sydney campus is enrolling a record number of students (227) for semester one, though.

An upgrade to Avondale's student management system, Callista, means the college now has two census dates-March 31 and April 30-in semester one. The latest report includes students enrolled in yearlong undergraduate and postgraduate courses.