Diversity of Provision in Higher Education - StudentCrowd Survey Results

Posted by: Paul Humphreys on 11th August 2017

For the last 6 months I’ve helped The Higher Education Commission to lead an inquiry into: The Diversity of Provision in Higher Education.

'Diversity of provision' refers to a range of alternative methods and models for delivering Higher Education, including:

Studying part-time
Studying 100% online
Studying with an alternative provider

As part of this inquiry, we agreed to survey our StudentCrowd users to discover the level of awareness of alternative methods to provide higher education. The survey questions were asked to StudentCrowd users from 26/06/17 to 11/08/2017 via an online poll available on StudentCrowd.com.

The Results

Question 1: Are there options to study a degree part-time?

Yes - 49%
No - 51%

(1,312 respondents)

Correct answer: Yes! In 2015/16 there were 148,570 part-time undergraduates and 107,120 part-time postgraduates.

Question 2: Are there options to complete a degree by studying 100% online?

Yes - 23%
No - 77%

(1,112 respondents)

Correct answer: Yes! there are options to study degrees 100% online e.g. The Open University & Stanford University.

Question 3: Did your careers advisor talk to you about studying with an alternative provider?

Yes - 18%
No - 82%

(910 respondents)

Conclusion

The results demonstrate that the majority of students do not know all the options that are available to them. It’s also clear that students are not finding out information regarding alternative providers from careers advisors. There is much more to be explored in this topic.

To find out more, read the full enquiry - The Diversity of Provision in Higher Education.