University degrees enable students to immerse themselves in the academic subject that most interests them and are a crucial first step to many careers.
University graduates generally earn more than non-university graduates and a survey from Graduate Careers Australia has shown that even at the height of the global financial crisis last year, 79.2% of university students found full-time jobs within four months of graduating.
Applying for an undergraduate degree
An undergraduate degree is offered to people without any kind of university degree prior to commencing study and refers to the academic degree earned by a student undertaking subjects from the undergraduate faculty courses.
Undergraduate degrees are usually offered to students at a university institution, most often as a bachelor's degree, which take around three to four years to complete.
Entry requirements for a bachelor's degree vary depending on each institution but usually include possessing a high level of English and often the completion of an Australian secondary school certificate of education (year 12) or the overseas equivalent. A diploma or advanced diploma from the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector will also suffice.
Flexible studying
There are many different undergraduate degree study options, including long distance learning degrees, accredited degrees and online university courses.
In the workplace, an undergraduate course can set you apart from other candidates and provide the theoretical and practical experience required for many career options. Students can study their undergraduate degree full time or part time.
You can also combine more than one degree at the same time. A combined undergraduate degree often includes areas like Law and Social Sciences or Economics, and usually takes five or six years to complete. The benefits of the combined undergraduate degrees include being qualified in more than one field.
A degree with honours requires the student to write a thesis based on a research project undertaken over a full academic year, making the degree four years in total. Acceptance depends on course marks and usually a written application is also required.
Financial help for undergraduate students
An undergraduate degree often costs at least $11,000 a year. Students can apply for a Commonwealth supported place or a full fee paying place, which is not subsidised by the Commonwealth government.
To help students cover the costs of an undergraduate degree, they can apply for HECS-HELP, which is a loan available to eligible students enrolled in Commonwealth supported places.
If you receive a HECS-HELP loan, the Australian government pays the loan amount directly to your higher education provider on your behalf. A student enrolled in an undergraduate course is also eligible for a fortnightly student allowance from Centrelink called Youth Allowance which applies to full time students only.
What can graduates look forward to?
Graduate Careers Australia found that 79.2 per cent of all students with a bachelor degree found a full time job within four months of graduating in 2009, despite the global downturn.
The median annual starting salary for graduates aged less than 25 in 2009 was $48,000, an increase from $45,000 in 2008, 83% of the annual rate of average weekly earnings in Australia.
Graduate opportunities vary depending on the course taken, with dentistry, nursing and civil engineering rating highly for job availability, while dentistry, optometry, engineering, earth sciences and medicine topped the list of highest starting salaries.
Students can also undertake further study, with a range of postgraduate degrees on offer.