UCOL to shut door on open education

UCOL is closing its doors on open education at a time of high unemployment and students hammering to get in.

Chief executive Paul McElroy said course demand is pushing through the ceiling, as 500 more students than last year apply for courses – a 19 percent jump.

If the upward trend continues UCOL will cut back on student numbers in the second semester, signalling a move away from an open education model, Mr McElroy said.

"It's going to be really hard for me to shift away from my current model. If necessary we're going to have to close the doors some time in May to August."

Course entry is being tightened because of student funding caps introduced by the Government last year.

The number of UCOL capped, or restricted entry, courses rose from 13 in 2009 to 37 this year. Now 231 students are wait-listed.

"Some of them will find other programmes at UCOL or other institutions – I really don't know," Mr McElroy said of the rejected students.

While Massey University cracks down on failing students, UCOL is taking a "first in, first served" approach to enrolments.

Mr McElroy plans to tweak the system to have a more health-based entry system.

This means the age of applicants and previous study may be considered.

"What we're trying to do is develop a framework of policy and we will allow each programme to interpret that."

However, Mr McElroy stands by the idea that education should be for everybody.

He knows about second-chance education first-hand. As a teenager he ran away from home without university entry qualifications. His life was transformed when Wellington Polytechnic took a chance on him.

"I just believe in people's ability to use education to transform their lives."

Mr McElroy defends giving students a chance regardless of grades.

"Even students that don't pass take great value out of polytechnic education. Sometimes they just take what they learn and go back to work on the farm, or it gives them a confidence to engage in another programme next year, or confidence to go out and work."

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