The Traditional to Contemporary Spectrum of Models of Higher Education for Admission and Course Delivery

Abstract

The admission of the more diverse student body in higher education has been facilitated by greater flexibility in teaching and learning mode of study and by permitting part-time study. This study aims to compare a hypothesised model on a set of presage variables relating to admission and mode of study; intermediate variables of age and year of study and measures of outcomes including GPA and attrition between a traditional university (N = 17,025) and a contemporary university (N = 8,911) using data from student records using structural equation modeling. Following testing and modification, the model for the traditional university (R-CFI = 0.959, SRMR = 0.035 and R-RMSEA = 0.059) was simpler than that for the contemporary university (R-CFI = 0.932, SRMR= 0.055, and R-RMSEA = 0.055). As universities have shifted across the spectrum from the traditional to contemporary models, the increased complexity has permitted the entry of a much wider range of students to higher education, but it is also led to increases in attrition.