An Australian institution has rejected claims of dumbing down after a move to confine vocational degrees to specific campuses. Monash University’s Gippsland and Berwick campuses will have lower entry standards and award campus-specific diplomas distinguishing them from degrees awarded at its main Clayton campus. Vice-chancellor Ed Byrne said the move addressed the need to serve students in regional and outer metropolitan areas who may be shut out by high entry standards, The Australian reported. Plans submitted to the government said Gippsland’s Average Tertiary Admission Rank – which allows comparison of school-leaving qualifications – was less than the minimum level accepted at Clayton. But Professor Byrne said that the new vocational degrees would be subject to the same quality control as existing degrees. “This isn’t about dumbing down. It is the very opposite,” he noted.
Source: Times Higher Education http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=419259&c=1