Demand for SCU courses surges

Demand for courses at Southern Cross University (SCU) continues to grow,with student preferences for SCU in 2004 up 16 per cent.

Demand through the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) covering NSW and the ACT is up 16 per cent compared to the same time last year, while demand
through the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC) is up 17 per cent.

First preferences for courses at SCU are also up, by five per cent through UAC and six per cent through QTAC (six per cent overall).

The 16 per cent overall increase in applications for SCU compares to an increase of 2.5 per cent in NSW and the ACT through UAC.

"These figures are very good and show applications to study at Southern Cross University have increased a lot more than the State average," SCU Vice-Chancellor Professor John Rickard said.

This year's increases follow on from strong growth last year, with an increase in overall preferences to study at SCU of 23 per cent in 2002 compared to 2001, and an increase in first preferences of 10 per cent at a time when overall applications through UAC increased by 3.5 per cent.

The courses with the greatest increase in first preference applications, are: Bachelor of Legal & Justice Studies - External; Bachelor of Human
Movement Science; Bachelor of Social Science at the Tweed Gold Coast campus; Bachelor of Social Science - External; Bachelor of Psychology
(Honours) at the CoffsHarbour campus; Bachelor of Business at the Tweed Gold Coast campus; Bachelor of Business - External; and Bachelor of Nursing
at Lismore and Coffs Harbour.

New courses in high demand are a Bachelor of Media, a Bachelor of Law (non-graduate entry), and a Bachelor of Environment Tourism Management.

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