The University of Newcastle has made almost 10 per cent fewer offers to prospective students compared to the same time last year, despite an overall increase in the number of offers made statewide.
Newcastle made 2629 offers to prospective students as part of its main round offers released on Wednesday.
This included a four per cent increase in offers to school leavers (2078), but this was offset by an 11.7 per cent decrease in offers to non-school leavers (551), resulting in a net decrease of 9.4 per cent.
The university attributed the drop to a combination of factors. Employment insecurity stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic saw more non-school leavers seeking admission to university in 2021 than has occurred this year.
There have also been differences between 2021 and 2022 admissions timelines due to changes in HSC exams and the release of ATARs.
But perhaps most significantly for Newcastle, large metropolitan-based universities have been making more offers to regional students in an effort to offset massive loses resulting from a drop in their international enrolments.
"Some of the big institutions have definitely been making more offers to school kids. They have been reducing their cut-offs because they have been suffering from a decline in international students," Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Mark Hoffman, said.
"Interestingly we have been getting more students coming to us from the Sydney region in the past few years."
Newcastle's Bachelor of Pharmacy, Bachelor Criminology-Bachelor of Psychological Science, Bachelor of Criminology and Bachelor of Environmental Science and Management are among the degrees which have experienced increased interest from prospective students.
"Year 12 is an intense culmination of secondary education, so we're thrilled to be able to provide some positive news and much-needed certainty as 2022 kicks off and look forward to welcoming many new faces into out university community," Professor Hoffman said.
Applicants received their offers via email from 7.30am Wednesday.
Universities Admissions Centre general manager of marketing and engagement, Kim Paino said, universities had made 35,811 offers in this round, an increase on the 34,700 offers made at the same time last year.
"Even though we've had lots of early offers already, this is the first offers that have been made to Year 12 students based on their ATAR. This includes not only NSW HSC students who received their results last week, but all Year 12s across Australia who have been waiting on offers to courses that rely on ATAR for entry," she said.
Universities have also released the Lowest Selection Rank (previously known as a cut-off) required for entry into each course.
This information will be available on UAC's website when offers are released and can be used by applicants looking to change their preferences for the offer rounds still to come.
Applicants have until midnight on Saturday 29 January to change preferences to be included in February Round 1 on Thursday 3 February.
And if they haven't applied yet it's not too late - applications for study in semester 1 are open until Friday 4 February. More information is available on UAC's website.
The University of Newcastle has increased the range of options available for future students to gain financial support or follow alternative pathways as part of its commitment to equitable access to higher education.
The university has also announced seven new diplomas in addition to a new scholarship program to support the high achieving Year 12 students seeking transitioning to higher education.
