Half Full, Not Half Empty: A Positive Look at Part-time Higher Education

This article explores the largely negative view of part-time higher education in contemporary policy discourse and the academic community. It presents the available data and re-interprets it in a positive way demonstrating that part-time students are not only in the (silent) majority but represent a model of lifelong learning, generate significant income for the universities and represent a resource of great potential for higher education. However, it concludes that there remains an outstanding research agenda and policy debate before its full potential can be realised.