Group of Eight universities underperform on the new national UG satisfaction rating, with Uni WA, Monash U, Uni NSW, Uni Melbourne and Uni Sydney all scoring under the national average. ANU was in second last place, just ahead of University of Notre Dame Australia.
The outlier among the Eight was Uni Queensland, in 13th place.
Demonstrating the student-service focus of small universities, the national leaders are tiny faith-based institutions the Unis of Theology, Divinity and Avondale U, followed by private Bond U. Non-university providers have higher UG ratings (although not by much) on all categories except learning resources.
But demonstrating what a strong student focus and regional branding can accomplish, they are followed by Uni New England and Uni Sunshine Coast. In a remarkable achievement for the leadership of former VC Iain Martin, giant Deakin U was rated seventh nationally.
The results are from last year’s Federally-funded Student Experience Survey, part of the credible, comprehensive, Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching project.
At 76%, the overall national UG satisfaction rating was stable for the third straight year, 8% up on the Covid 2020 score, but still 2% down on the immediate pre-pandemic peak. For students enrolled in formerly on-campus courses, more time in hybrid/on-line classes reduces satisfaction. Across the board, “those who participated in their classes on campus were more likely to provide positive ratings for sense of belonging.”
Last year’s study area results for the entire system are largely in line with previous findings. Ag students and vets are happiest, so are medicos but nurses aren’t. Computing and IT students are the most miserable, at 10% under-average. HASS and teacher education were just above average.
However, QILT does not publish study area results for individual universities. There may be limits as to how much it is willing to be disliked by universities which dispute its methodology and dislike its comparisons.
QILT was created by Christopher Pyne a decade plus back and continued, to their credit, by Coalition and Labor ministers.