Embracing regional uni brings unexpected dividends

As she finished high school in Sydney, Sam Laing wasn’t going to enrol in university because none of the local courses really grabbed her. Then her mum spotted the geoscience degree at the University of New England.

“I thought, that’s a huge move – it’s six hours away from my whole life!” Laing recalls. “But I realised it was a great opportunity – to move away from home straight after finishing school and live on campus in Armidale studying something I love.”

Laing embodies all that is good about regional university life. Having not known a soul from the country before enrolling, she now has friends who share tales of life on the family farm, and others whose parents are constantly looking for work in the mining industry.

“Meeting so many people who had a different upbringing to me has been great.”

The benefits of a smaller scale

One of the great pluses is the intimacy of classes. On a tour of Macquarie University before committing to a regional option, Laing was overwhelmed by the sheer number of students. “At UNE it’s smaller, your lecturers know you; there’s a lot of one-on-one support if you need it.”

Then there is the course itself, which in a country setting can leave Laing feeling like she’s on a permanent field trip. Seeing kangaroos and koalas as she walks between classes only heightens the slow-paced country lifestyle.

“That’s one of the biggest benefits,” she says. “Because we’re in the country and my degree is geoscience, I basically have all the practical material I need within close range,” Laing says. “In and around Armidale, there are rock outcrops, mines, farms; I’m able to do all the research I need for my degree, basically in my backyard.”

Because her course is also offered online, when Laing heads home to Sydney, all she needs is her laptop to continue studying. “I can do my degree from anywhere, as well as go to the in-person classes,” she says.

As someone who was “an incredibly anxious person” throughout high school and was happy staying home, Laing says she is grateful to her parents and former teachers for convincing her that a regional university might be life changing. Laing has found a community at uni and in her residential college. She has even thrown herself into leadership roles she’d never thought possible.

“I became a first-year rep last year, and I’m on the leadership team again this year. If you’d told me in Year 12 I’d be doing that, I would have been like, ‘You’re making that up’.”

Laing reports having never been busier (“good busy”) and feels like there is always something going on – whether socially in and around Armidale, or at university and on campus. A recent agricultural conference at UNE featuring speakers from all parts of the industry, was something she’d never contemplated being part of, yet it was both informative and enjoyable.

“Socially, you’re always getting dressed up,” she says. “The Armidale races are huge; there are lots of sports clubs which I like. There was an agriculture ball at a pub. Everyone got dressed up, and I met a whole heap of new people.

The wider appeal of regional universities

Regional Universities Network CEO Alec Webb says life in the regions naturally fosters connection, which is echoed at university through a more personalised teaching model.

Students consistently report that affordability and lifestyle are big lures, while government-endorsed data from regular Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) surveys show graduates from regional universities not only enjoy higher satisfaction rates than their metropolitan counterparts, but also higher starting salaries as they enter the workforce.

“These are thriving cities and communities, and there are things there for everybody to do,” Webb says. “There are young people in regional Australia as well.

“We hear all the time from students who’ve moved to these communities, ‘Wow, I couldn’t believe Armidale is so lovely’.”

Webb says a high proportion of students who undertake tertiary studies in the regions stay on after entering the workforce.

Laing hasn’t decided yet, but she likes the idea of using her geoscience knowledge to travel around and educate the next generation. She knows such an ambition was unthinkable even only a couple of years ago.

“I’d like to go to schools regionally and in cities and teach kids the importance of geoscience. Educate the future generation on how much fun my degree can be.”

For more information, visit www.une.edu.au.