A qualitative study of persistence and performance : factors in the motivation of first year tertiary education students

The dilemma of student motivation at regional university sites needs to be examined to expose peculiarities in regional areas that impact on the future sustainability of tertiary education programs in those areas. The focus of this phenomenographic study was the persistence and performance of 11 first year university students. Interviews with individual participants identified qualitatively distinct categories of persisting and performing behaviours. A sense of shared responsibility between the university and students emerged as integral to ongoing achievement for students, which impacts on completion rates and ultimately the sustainability of regional campuses within their communities.