To mark Adult Learners’ Week in September, Charles Sturt University (CSU) is recruiting for CSU Connect, a free bridging program that fast-tracks distance education students into undergraduate degree courses. Danielle Ranshaw, the StudyLink Program Coordinator at CSU Bathurst says CSU Connect came out of research into rural participation and attrition rates at university. “The idea is to get more people from the regions into the University and also adequately prepare students for study. CSU Connect takes people from a basic level to a fairly advanced level quite quickly.” Lisa Marr is one of the potential students who enrolled in the first CSU Connect program last year. “I saw a poster on a noticeboard in Mudgee. I wanted to go to university, but it has been a while since I left school. I know that if I had a degree, I might get the job I want and fulfil my life a bit more. I feel like I can meet the standard of university study now, that I can complete it and do very well at it.”