Student expectations across Australia and New Zealand are evolving. Increasingly, learners are seeking flexible study options that enable them to build skills, improve employability, and engage with education at different stages throughout their lives. As institutions respond to workforce demands and lifelong learning agendas, the traditional model of three or four years of continuous full-time study is giving way to a more personalised and flexible approach.
Ian Armstrong, Business Development Manager APAC at Ellucian, explores how Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions can help tertiary institutions in the region to manage increasingly complex student pathways while improving both student and institutional outcomes.
The Rise of Non-Linear Student Journeys
Many students are choosing, and indeed expecting flexibility when it comes to their 21st century education. They want learning to increase their employability, and to be able to tap in and out of education at different times throughout their lives. As a result, the traditional tertiary education structure, made up of three or four years of full-time study measured by credit hours, is no longer the default option.
The move towards a more flexible approach to the student journey is a central pillar of tertiary education policy across both Australia and New Zealand. Australia's Universities Accord highlights the importance of expanding access to education and developing a highly skilled workforce. Meanwhile, one of the five priorities in New Zealand's Tertiary Education Strategy 2025–2030 is to ensure more people build relevant skills throughout their lives that contribute to a productive economy.
The lifelong learning agenda will drive significant change in the way students are enrolled and courses delivered. Institutions will be offering students more choice in the form of rolling enrolments, flexible pathways, and a focus on the skills employers need rather than just the content institutions may have traditionally delivered.
Why Are Student Journeys Becoming More Flexible?
Multiple factors are contributing to the trend towards the non-traditional, non-linear student journey, putting tertiary education in Australia and New Zealand at a turning point.
1. Diverse Entry Pathways
Today's tertiary education is not solely the preserve of the school leaver. Learners are entering institutions at different stages of their lives and careers, often bringing prior qualifications, industry experience, or vocational training with them.
Students may want to complement the hands-on practical workplace learning of an apprenticeship with relevant degree-level courses and move seamlessly between vocational education and training (VET) and a university education.
If a student enters a university having completed an apprenticeship, for example, the institution should ideally recognise the student's previous studies in technical and further education (TAFE), as well as their work experience.
2. Stop-Start Study Patterns
Many students can't afford to take three or four years out of their life for full-time study. They may prefer to work for a few years first, or study part-time alongside a job. Australia's QILT Student Experience Survey revealed that 40.5% of undergraduates have considered leaving education due to financial difficulties, while 26% have considered leaving due to paid work responsibilities.
Personal circumstances are another factor. Learners who are caring for children and families might decide to pause their education to manage their additional responsibilities, with the option to return to studying later on.
Institutions need to offer students the possibility to pause and return by allowing them to maintain the credits they have already earned.
Supporting these pathways requires systems that can seamlessly manage interruptions and re-engagement throughout the student lifecycle.
3. Flexible and Modular Learning
Lifelong learning means that a person's student days needn't be over when they are in their early twenties. Rapid technological and economic change is driving demand for continuous upskilling and reskilling, and many professionals in Australia and New Zealand now return to tertiary education multiple times throughout their careers to develop new capabilities. According to the New Zealand Tertiary Education Commission, 21% of tertiary learners were aged over 40, and 33% aged between 25 and 39.
Institutions are increasingly exploring ways to offer learners micro-credentials, or mini, focused qualifications that certify a student's knowledge or skill in a specific area. In fact, over 64% of Australasian tertiary education providers now operate some form of corporate strategy specifically for micro-credentials.
Students can complete multiple micro-credentials and stack them over time to earn a higher-level qualification, certificate or even a full degree. Rather than following a prescribed sequence, many students want the flexibility to select learning experiences that align with their immediate career goals and personal circumstances. So, ideally institutions should offer non-sequential learning, which gives students the flexibility to study micro-credentials that are relevant to them rather than having to complete them in an order specified by the institution.
4. Workforce Aligned Education
Tertiary education is becoming more closely linked to workforce needs, and institutions are ideally placed to support workplaces to fill skills gaps, and the students looking for employment skills to engage in the workforce.
This means institutions are offering more skills and employability focused courses, and in many cases, working with employers to ensure that learners on these courses will come away with the skill sets employers need.
It's important to recognise that industries are dynamic and employers' needs change over time. For example, digital and data skills are now increasingly valued across sectors that previously placed less emphasis on technology competencies. A report from recruitment specialists, Hays, suggests that 87% of jobs in Australia already require digital literacy skills. Meanwhile the training organisation, Learning People, reveals that demand for AI skills in New Zealand job listings has jumped by 143%.
As a result, students need the flexibility to switch from one program to another and streamline their credit transfer process. Institutions will increasingly be supporting students to pursue interdisciplinary learning and build new skill sets throughout their careers.
The Institutional Challenge
Now that more student journeys are taking a non-linear path, there is an increasing need for flexibility. But with flexibility comes complexity, and institutions are having to provide multiple pathways, entry points, competency-based assessment, and course offerings, which presents a new set of challenges.
1. Systems Not Designed for Linear Progression
Most legacy systems are built around a set pattern of enrolment, three years of full-time study, followed by graduation. The assumption of continuous study embedded in the systems makes it difficult to factor in study pauses, transfer programs, complete stackable credentials or the opportunity to re-engage multiple times throughout their lives. Systems are not built to support students who may have more than 10 different careers over their lifetime.
2. Disconnected Data and Manual Processes
Historically, an exception to the recognised pathway, such as a six-month gap in studies, has often been managed manually. This can mean that important information ends up being stored in separate systems, spreadsheets, emails or departmental records. This creates data inconsistency, limited visibility of student progress, inefficient administrative processes and increased compliance risks.
3. Complex Program and Credit Rules
To support the non-linear student journey, institutions must manage a whole new set of processes. This introduces additional complexity around credit transfer, recognition of prior learning, and alternative program structures. There are also new factors to manage such as stackable credits and multiple qualification pathways. Managing these requirements consistently can be difficult without modern, integrated systems.
4. Increased Demands on Staff
As the non-linear student experience becomes the norm, advisors and administrative teams face growing demands. Staff are likely to be providing additional guidance to students, and spending time explaining concepts such as program structures, credit requirements, progression rules, qualification pathways, and graduate implications. Without effective digital support, workloads can increase significantly.
How SaaS Supports Non-Linear Student Journeys
Modern SaaS-native solutions enable institutions to build flexibility into their systems, so they can adapt to the complexities that come with the non-linear student journey.
A student success platform such as Ellucian Student pulls together data from across the institution, supports personal adaptive planning, provides a single view of the student, and leverages AI to support students across the lifecycle.
Adaptive Academic Planning
To achieve the best outcomes, students need personalised study plans. However, plans can and do change over time. A student might not be able to attend a class due to a new work commitment, or they may decide that a module is no longer relevant to their needs. These changes can have an impact on the time to graduation, extra fees incurred, and the ability to move to another course of study.
Unlike a traditional system which follows a static route, an AI native SaaS platform can recalculate all the parameters, such as graduate timelines, course prerequisites, alternative pathways, and the cost implications of changing plans. This means a student's study plan no longer needs to be set in stone, it can evolve alongside the student’s needs.
Rather than relying on static program maps, students can explore options and make informed decisions as their needs evolve. Students can ask: "Can I replace this class with another option?" "What are the prerequisites for this subject?" or "How will this change affect my graduation timeline?"
Institutions can manage their resource planning easily with a modern SaaS solution. A SaaS system with AI functionality can document all the academic programs and run data-informed reports, so staff can plan resources and see how many lecturers they need for a new course, or what size of lecture hall would be most appropriate.
Connected Data Across the Student Lifecycle
Both Australia and New Zealand are working towards the objective of increasing participation in tertiary education, with targets set out by the Australian Universities Accord and the New Zealand Tertiary Education Strategy 2025-2030.
This means institutions are welcoming people with different backgrounds, ages and needs. Having a single, up-to-date view of each student helps institutions engage with students whose traditional learning approach may be different, such as neurodiverse student populations, mature age students, first in family, and indigenous peoples.
Institutions which are using a modern SaaS platform with embedded native agentic AI can think much more holistically about the student journey, and the way they engage with students.
Modern SaaS platforms can bring together everything institutions need to know about each student, such as academic records, prior learning, micro-credentials, student preferences, engagement data, and support interactions. This means institutions can be more proactive by suggesting options for students at different points in their life cycle, according to student preferences or performance in particular areas.
For example, academic advisors can proactively recommend relevant classes, while student success teams can intervene earlier when indicators suggest a learner may be at risk of disengagement.
Consistent Application of Policies and Program Rules
While the foundations for lifelong learning must be flexible to allow students to follow varied pathways, it is important to retain consistency across an institution. This is much easier to achieve at an institution with standardised systems and processes.
Standardised SaaS platforms enable institutions to apply program rules, policies and regulations consistently across multiple pathways and qualification structures. In fact, it makes it much easier for institutions to manage flexible learning. If a student seeks to move from one program to another, the system can automatically evaluate applicable credits and outline any remaining requirements.
Another benefit of agentic AI native SaaS is that it supports institutional decision-making by applying rule-based analytics. Unlike traditional systems where institutions must wait until the end of a business cycle to make decisions, a SaaS solution can look backwards at the trends over the past five to forecast demand and inform strategic decisions.
This includes using predictive analytics to decide how many offers to make based on student retention trends, or how long it will take for a new course of study to become profitable. Decisions like these are becoming more important in the age of lifelong learning and non-linear journeys.
Scalable Support for Student Advising
With more students embarking on non-linear pathways, student advisors may find they are having to respond to a wider range of questions. A system like Ellucian Student makes it easy for advisors to find the answers because everything is accessible from across the entire institution and breaks through the siloed systems.
There is also more scope with a SaaS solution to extend student self-service, so students can access the answers to many of their questions without needing to book a meeting with an advisor.
Students can independently explore options, understand program requirements, and assess the impact of academic decisions. This reduces routine enquiries and enables advisors to focus on higher-value interactions involving more complex student needs.
The result is a more efficient advising model that improves both staff effectiveness and student satisfaction.
Building the Future of Student Success
Non-linear student journeys are rapidly becoming the norm rather than the exception. Learners increasingly expect education to fit around their lives, careers and changing aspirations.
To meet these expectations, institutions require technology platforms designed for flexibility, adaptability, and lifelong engagement.
Today's student journeys are becoming more diverse, flexible, and personalised. That's why tertiary institutions need systems built around adaptability rather than fixed pathways.
In the age of the non-linear student journey, SaaS platforms supported by agentic AI can help institutions:
- Deliver personalised student experiences
- Support lifelong learning pathways
- Improve operational efficiency
- Enhance decision-making through connected data
- Scale student support services effectively
As tertiary education continues to evolve, institutions equipped with modern SaaS platforms will be better positioned to support learner success, workforce readiness and the growing demand for lifelong learning.
Ellucian Student
Ellucian Student brings together connected data, adaptive planning, and embedded agentic AI to help institutions support non-linear student journeys across the entire student lifecycle.
A winner of a 2026 EdTech Digest EdTech Award Ellucian Student was recognised for its degree auditing, smart planning and registration, and credential discovery capabilities that help institutions support clearer academic pathways.
Key benefits:
- Enables intelligent academic planning and registration
- Aligns program rules, student data and enrolment in real time
- Supports consistent, scalable advising experiences
- Provides a connected view of the student lifecycle
- Helps institutions adapt to changing learner expectations
Find out how Ellucian Student can support the non-linear journey at your institution.
