Distance Education in Australia
Australian tertiary education has a long history of distance study, well over one hundred years, owing to the vast and isolated nature of the country. For most of the past century, distance education has been the poor cousin of the "real thing", but now it has suddenly become probably the fast growing segment of the sector, as highly mobile professionals moving from country to country (such as myself) are creating new demand, and the internet is making the study experience much more interactive. And so the "poor cousin" regional universities find themselves elevated to the cutting edge of postgraduate education. I'm doing a course-work "Masters" at CSU (I wish it was called something other than a Masters, since it is in structure and content an undergraduate course) and I've found it to be a fairly smooth experiences, with about the same administrative hassles that you can expect a more prestigious university to offer. I have learnt more and learnt more quickly than I expected, the standard is higher than I expected and I'm having more fun than I expected.
I started studying my Masters while living in Jakarta. I will finish it living in Singapore, and my books and my modem accompany me on trips throughout the region.
These are at least four good Australian universities offering comprehensive distance education programs to students throughout Australia and the Asia Pacific region.
Charles Sturt University (CSU, Australian University of the Year 1997)
Monash University (One of Australia's most prestigious universities)
University of Southern Queensland
Australian universities offer undergraduate degrees (Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Engineering etc) which take three or four years of full-time study. Entry to Law and Medicine is traditionally the same as entry to other undergraduate degrees, after high school, but this is changing.
For postgraduate study (after a bachelors degree), course work Masters and short postgraduate qualifications such as Graduate Certificates and Graduate Diplomas are common.
Distance education is concentrated on postgraduate qualifications.
The highest postgraduate degrees as research Masters and Doctorates (nearly always by research).
