Despite a nearly 50% increase in the proportion of 25-to-34-year olds with a degree since 2008, the percentage of university students from under-represented equity groups has hardly changed.
International education is a huge source of income for the sector and the broader economy, but students are concentrated in a limited number of institutions and most come from a few source countries.
Educating international students provides far more benefits for Australia than is commonly acknowledged. But it has also created problems and an ambitious agenda is needed to overcome these.
How we calculate university drop-out rates must be amended to reflect the changing cohort of university students, who often dip in and out of study and take longer to complete their degree.
In 1970 there were 269 male university students per 100 female university students. However females overtook males in 1987 and now there are 80 males for every 100 females.